Saints Row Fourever
by I-am-the-Peel
Summary: Set after Save Shaundi ending. The Boss thought that he was done with burying his friends, but when Edgar Winslow sets his plans into motion to finally destroy the Third Street Saints, the leader realised his mistake. His new Saints may offer him an advantage in the long war, but it will be the older Saints he will rely on the most...Including the missing Johnny Gat. R&R Please!
1. Chapter 1: Good Morning Johnny!

Hi everyone,

I've created another Saints Row story, this time, a sequel set after the Save Shaundi ending. I've revised the first two chapters over and over, and after I've read through a couple of other stories in the archive (BTW, Steelport Heroes and Smoke In Mirrors are amazing stories, those of you who haven't read them, I recommend you do so as they are just pure masterpieces), I've come up with this. I hope you all enjoy this, and please leave a review, I'd love some feedback.

I do not own Saints Row or any of it's characters. The only characters I do own so far are Edgar Winslow, Micah, Razor, Farid, Tommy 'The Skipper' Quiver, Han Chang, Lian Chang and Stan Timber.

**Please leave a review! If I get more reviews for my other Saints Row stories, I might just drop this one and return to other ones!**

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**Saints Row Fourever**

Long after the Third Street Saints took over Stilwater for the second time, the Boss swore that none of his crew would hit the dust again.

After Carlos and Aisha, he didn't want to deal with any of it. It wasn't just to keep her gang's image strong, or that he didn't want to discourage people from signing up.

He didn't want anyone else to see him grieve for his friends ever again. He promised Johnny, Pierce, and Shaundi, that he would never let them die for the Saints.

But after finally taking Steelport for his own, he remembered how he broke this promise, and where Johnny was because of it.

He was dead. He was _fucking_ dead.

Or at least, that's what he believed. He could not find Gat's corpse in Syndicate Tower or the Plane that he stole from the Syndicate, but when Loren and Viola told him what they did, he assumed the worst.

But far away, Johnny Gat was still alive. Alive, and fighting for his life.

He had been kidnapped and forced into a basement for months, struggling to survive off crumbs of bread and mouthfuls of tap-water. He was a shadow of the man he once was.

What kept Johnny alive were the memories of his loved ones, and what he would do when he saw Shaundi again, when he could finally tell her that he _loved_ her.

All because of one man, one man whom he only saw once, after Loren had sent him away from Steelport so that the Saints could not save him. So the Boss couldn't save him.

But it did not matter, as the Boss eventually accepted Johnny's death, and believed the impossible had happened. Throughout the years he knew Johnny, he always thought that Johnny would be the one coming to his funeral.

In reality, Gat thought he would have died on the first day he fought against the Vice Kings; he thought that he'd recklessly get himself killed, and the Boss would always continue finding the way of cheating death, like he _usually_ did.

Finally however, after many months, he met the man who had bought him off Philippe Loren in the basement, and if Johnny wasn't held back by metal chains, he'd show how good he felt by beating the man to death with his own_ vocal cords_.

"Hello Johnny, do you know who I am?"

"Yeah, a pussy…." Gat began to chuckle, even in his torture he still had his usual cheeky attitude that everyone loved. "If you wanted to get me in your basement, you didn't need to drug me this much!"

Johnny laughed even more, until the man stabbed him in the stomach with a swiss-army knife, and slowly turned the cold blade in his warm bleeding flesh.

"Very cute…My name is Edgar Winslow. That's right, Winslow, the name of that Mayor you helped fuck over on the train tracks back in Stilwater years ago…But I doubt you'll remember, I wouldn't blame you if you did, my father was a fucking idiot."

"Sounds like you've got daddy issues…Can't help you with that, but I can give you the number of a good therapist…"

Edgar stabbed him in the same hole of his stomach as before, and drove the knife deeper into the gangster until he granted him a scream of pain. It was very rare that Johnny would ever scream or moan in pain.

"So what do you want with me?"

"I want you…To help me destroy the Saints. I want you to help me save _my_ country, and most likely, this world-"

Before Edgar could finish, Johnny scoffed at his words, and shook his head in disbelief, which only infuriated Edgar even more.

"And why the fuck am I gonna help you, daddy's boy?"

"Perhaps _this_ is a good reason…"

Edgar clicked his fingers, and within minutes, a group of what looked like army soldiers ran down the stairs, bringing with them a mother and a young son of African-American descent, whom cradled each other both in love, and fear. Edgar snickered with delight at Johnny's confusion, and a sadistic grin on his face grew even larger.

"How well do you know your friend, Pierce Washington? Do you trust him enough to have no secrets?"

"If you wanted to piss me off Edgar, you shouldn't have kidnapped a fucking family! I don't even know these bitches!"

"They are not just any family Gat...This boy here, he is...The son of Pierce Washington..."

"Bullshit! Pierce's_ never_ had a fucking son! I would have known, he would have fucking said so!"

"But he has, at least, he's never known about it...He slept with this stripper seven years ago, and left her in Stilwater when he went off to Japan to film some commercials for that _'ass tasting energy drink'_..."

"You honestly expect me to believe this? You're a shit liar...If he's Pierce's son...Prove it."

"'_Prove'_ it?"

"...Fucking get on with it..."

"…Hmm...If you insist..."

Edgar brought out the same small knife out of his hands, and slowly slit the woman's throat, which made Gat quickly regret his actions as he held his eyes shut, not wanting to see the innocent blood pour out onto the floor. After his bloodlust was filled, Edgar dropped the woman back onto the floor, and let the young boy hold what remained of his mother. Even after her death, the boy still depended on her as he shook her corpse over and over, and whispered her name.

He first thought she couldn't hear him, so he whispered straight into her ear, and then he thought that she was asleep, so he started jumping up and down, making as much noise as possible...Then he thought that his mother just stopped caring about him, so he punched his hand into the wall over and over until it bled, and then looked back at the woman, but she did not respond. It was only when he realised that she would never stop caring for him that he finally accepted that she was dead.

But that did not make it easier; it just gave him a reason to want to die.

"Her death, is all on _you_ Gat...You know I will not kill you, but you will do what I say if you want this little bastard to live..."

"Touch him, and I will fucking tear your Goddamn legs off! Stay the fuck away from him Winslow!"

"I'll let him live, for _now_..But enough of him, please tell me Gat…" Edgar fished into the other pocket in his suit and brought out a pair of movie tickets.

He held the tickets out to Johnny like an old friend going out with another friend for the first time in decades, but the mother's corpse and the traumatised boy in the background ruined the idea for Edgar.

"Do you want to go see a _movie_?"


	2. Chapter 2: Too Intoxicated

Whilst one of their long-running members unwittingly became one of their new enemies, the Saints were residing in Steelport, settling in after running Killbane out of Steelport and ruining STAG's publicity.

Many of the Saints were celebrating their victory, and the main lieutenants were all checking over the Saints' businesses. Viola was appointed as the gang's financial adviser and supervised all of the businesses, Zimos was appointed the owner and manager of Safeword, Kinzie was granted full-time access to the Burns Hill Power Plant so that she could improve the gang's arsenal, Oleg was put in charge of canonising new recruits, and Angel…

Well, he was still pissed over Killbane. Josh and Jenny had finished their roles in the film Gangstas In Space and were attracting more and more attention for the Saints in the media, and Mayor Reynolds had created a pact with the Thrid Street Saints, in which as long as the Saints do not attack the Steelport Police in any way, they will not attack the Saints either.

The Boss and Pierce meanwhile, sat in the penthouse drinking Scotch, planning the gang's next move in both the criminal underworld and the media.

"Boss," said his lieutenant next to him "You do remember that the premier of Gangstas In Space will be in nine days in Steelport, after all this time?"

"I cannot forget Pierce." replied the leader. "I have been waiting for the premier as much as you have, though perhaps not as much as Jenny has-"

"-She's like that about most things isn't she? She's nearly as crazy and psychotic as you!"

The Boss made no answer, and lifted his left arm to fetch his bottle of Scotch, and the clenching in his fist as he grabbed the bottle made it perfectly clear to his second in command that he did not find the joke amusing in the slightest.

"We've let a lotta new people into the gang recently…" Pierce began, he began to lean forward out of his armchair and lit a cigar in his mouth. "First Jenny, then Birk, and then the rest of the crew, when we had the Syndicate and STAG shit going on-"

"It was never a choice Pierce, with Johnny's death, us and Shaundi were the only three surviving main members since the gang's return; we were _powerless_…"

The Boss took another sip of Scotch out of his bottle after sitting thinking to himself as to what to say next, and then quickly swigged what remained of the beverage until returning the bottle back to the nearby table.

"I know this sounds like shit Pierce, but…Have you ever thought of just, dropping the gang game?" Pierce glared at him with darting eyes, believing that the Boss was trying to call him weak at first, but then quickly realised what the Boss actually meant.

"I mean, a lot of shit has happened recently that I never expected. Johnny's dead, Kinzie and Oleg are an item and all we ever do is sign movie deals, too much has changed in two fucking _years_…"

The Boss fell back into the couch and looked towards the ceiling. Pierce took a long puff out of his cigar, trying to bring the Boss out of the depression he was in.

Ever since the Saints arrived in Steelport, Pierce was always optimistic over life and believed that the Saints had finally hit their prime in the film industry, and with Johnny's death and the growing conflicts in the gang, Pierce was always the man the Boss would turn to for help. But now, the Boss was too confused and did not want to hear Pierce's optimism, but he knew he was going to anyway.

"I hear what you're saying man, but what's done is done. Nobody wanted Johnny to die, that cat ran around as if he was a fucking tank, but he _ain't_ coming back man…And with things like Kinzie and Oleg, that's shit is good. To the fans, we're all just a couple of badasses that work together, but I guess with the shit we've all pulled through together…We're like a family." Pierce confidently answered back, after noticing that his Boss was in no state to speak after he was once again reminded of the death of his best friend. Fortunately for Pierce, his words spurned the Boss's attention and slightly brought him out of his depression.

"We're like a family, that always gets new kids and watches them grow up every day, then watch them get blown to fuckin' shit the next day…What I mean Pierce, is what if we just lived normal lives, but still did the normal shit like run protection rackets and drug deals…What if we all had our own families?"

"For real?"

"For real Pierce…"

"Damn…I dunno 'bout you, but I am not the daddy type. I could probably settle for one girl someday, but I'm definitely not the type of guy to drive his kid to school. I doubt I'll ever have kids Boss."

"Never?"

"Never ever…Never had a kid before, never _will_."

The Boss nodded at his words and pulled out his phone to check his messages. Five from Jenny in the past hour over the movie, one from Kinzie about a new weapon she's made, and none from Angel. The Boss hadn't heard from Angel for weeks, and was growing concerned.

"Angel…I've sent him a couple messages about the Gangstas In Space premier next week, but he hasn't messaged me back…I haven't seen or heard from him for weeks now-None of the crew have either too-"

"-He'll be fine man; he can take care of himself, and you can be sure that he will be pissed for a while, but just give him time, the guy will get over that asshole Killbane…" Pierce interrupted, his optimism returned once again as the rapper took another puff from his cigar.

"The guy's just gotta move on after that shit with Killbane; a lot of people in the gang do. All this shit with Johnny, then with Killbane; we all just need to enjoy life while we're still alive and…Well, get high on life!"

"Maybe your right Pierce, the shit that's happened definitely has changed all of us; we're just gonna need time. Kinzie and Oleg probably won't want to go and watch the premier-"

"-It's not their type of thing; besides, they'll want to spend a lotta time alone…Won't they?" Pierce butted in, laughing at some of the good things that the two had their strong suspicions about. The Boss couldn't help but laugh with his second in command, and Pierce wrapped his arm around his shoulder as he handed him a cigar. The Boss took it and lit it, then started blowing out a puff.

"Your definitely right about that too Pierce…I've already called Jenny and we'll head back here in a couple of days, just make sure the others will get here for the premier…But Angel…" The Boss began, still concerned for his troubled friend, but Pierce happily took his arm away from his Boss and threw the cigar away, then promised the Boss that he would do his job.

"I have to check on Angel-It's been too long-God knows what's happening with him…"

Pierce began rubbing his eyes with his left hand, as his right hand searched his jacket's pockets for his phone, and couldn't bring himself to look at the Boss and answer his worries.

"Do what you gotta do, it's your call man. Just remember, he probably won't be happy to see you after everything that's happened. And by the way, if you run into Oleg in the next couple of days before I do, tell him I want my winnings for our chess match!"

And with that sentiment, Pierce walked into the elevator and left the Boss alone in the headquarters. He dug out his phone and looked at Angel's number, then calmly nodded his head as he put the phone back into his pocket.

The Boss straightened his jacket and made sure his hair was perfectly slicked back, then felt the right pocket of his pants and checked that he had his M9 on him. He then stormed out, adamant that he would easily be able to reach out to Angel.

His business was running the streets of Stilwater and Steelport, and his solace was in making sure that his friends always had his back.


	3. Chapter 3: The Man Behind The Mask

The Boss walked alone through the entrance of Angel's casino, and made his way towards the gym which was where Angel spent most of his time. There was no life within the casino; dust covered all of the stools next to the slot machines, the floorboards were loose and families of rats scurried across the worn parts of the floor, and the sounds of an aggressive outburst echoed throughout the casino.

The Boss walked through and observed every detail of the casino, and shook his head at the fact that despite Angel's success in humiliating his biggest enemy, he still wouldn't improve the way he lived.

Angel was found in the gym; he was practising his wrestling takedowns on several mannequins, all of which had their plastic flesh torn off and their limbs were incredibly slack. The Boss stood by the doorway watching Angel performing a takedown onto a mannequin from above, and the Boss could only turn away when he saw Angel stomp the head of the mannequin into the ground, then quickly dust himself off without letting out a short pant.

"Angel? We haven't heard from you for a while…You okay man?" The Boss called out, with both of his fists clenched and tucked into his jeans pockets. Angel stopped unleashing his anger onto the mannequins, and his eyes became fixated on his careless leader. Angel quickly rose from the ground and began slowly walking towards his leader, and began snapping his fingers and neck in place.

"You've got some nerve coming here after all this time…" Angel warned, the Boss began taking a few steps backwards as Angel's eyes continued to widen at the presence of the Boss. "How can you stand and call yourself a leader, when you let an enemy like Killbane escape and live to fight another day?"

"Angel…I couldn't let Shaundi and the others die." The Boss tried to begin, but Angel simply scoffed at his words, and folded his arms and widened his legs further apart, with the sharp look on his face still receding. "They're my friends, and I couldn't just let them take the blame for something that wasn't their fault, and you had gotten everything you lost back…I just thought you'd understand. Will you understand?"

Angel froze at what the Boss was asking him, and the look of the enraged fighter grew worse as he took a few steps further towards his leader.

"You dare question me!? After you let Killbane escape and went off to film some shitty movie, as a celebration? I hope you're just forgetful…"

Angel began scratching viciously at his face, and his left elbow began to shield his face away from the Boss, but the Boss could easily see through Angel; he knew him too well.

"I-I thought, after everything I told you, after everything that's happened to you in the past…You'd be able to understand why I'm pissed off."

"If it's about the movie Angel, it doesn't matter, I don't like it that much either and we don't have to go watch it…I'm sorry I didn't call on you and everyone else to star in it but it wasn't my call-"

"This isn't about the fucking movie! It's about us! Us and Killbane!"

Angel jumped for the Boss and brought him onto the ground, and repeatedly punched him over and over in the face. The Boss tried to defend himself so that he could speak out, but Angel's rage took over, and soon the Boss's face was covered in the very blood that he had spilled thousands of times in the past for his gang.

"You don't understand the pain I have endured! The effort I have put into my training! Every fibre of my being has yearned to put an end to that bastard's life…And when I needed you the most…You left me to _die_…"

Angel continued beating the Boss, but at a much slower pace as Angel began remembering every aspect of his life that had changed once meeting the Third Street Saints.

"You left me to_ die_, and before you even called to make sure I was alright…You went to Stilwater to star in your dead friend's _shitty_ space movie-"

The Boss used Angel's slowness to his advantage, and managed to bring his knees to his chest and kicked Angel off his stomach, and quickly jumped up before Angel had a chance to pin him back down.

"I had Pierce call on you when we were off to Stilwater! And I thought you could take care of yourself, I had no idea STAG had you fucked over near the airport…"

The Boss started to pant, and bloodstains became visible around his upper torso, though they were nothing compared to the fresh blood that oozed out of the cracks in the Boss's face.

Angel charged back at him, and the Boss began blocking each of his punches with his elbows, and despite the higher speed in where Angel stood, the Boss managed to stand his own ground, but Angel was still winning. Angel then forced his left foot into the Boss's ribcages, which made him pummel to the floor.

Despite being the victor, Angel was still tired and could hardly focus enough on the Boss. But when he did manage to bring himself back together, he examined his leader; the Boss was in a serious condition; the gushing blood from his face and the purple bruises emerging from his stomach made him look like a fresh, beaten piece of meat in a butcher shop.

Despite his friend's anger however, the Boss continued trying to reach out to him, desperate to not lose one of his toughest and knowledgeable comrades, and slowly crawled away from him as Angel also moved himself away. Despite his fury, Angel still believed deep inside that the Boss could repay him, and Angel allowed the man to rethink how to apologise fully to him.

"You are…Angel De La Muerte…One of the fiercest fighters in the world…Your mask makes you that man, that legend."

"No. The man behind the mask makes that legend. The anarchy that engulfs that man makes him into a fucked up shadow…"

After noticing that the Boss was badly hurt and was too distracted with his own pain to pay attention to the wrestler, Angel rested himself against one of his punching bags. The Boss noticed this, and after deciding that he had to give Angel time before trying to understand their mistakes together, he limped out of the doorway and then through the casino, and left Angel to wallow in his gym.

Before the Boss left, he took another look at the old casino, and realised something; the casino was empty of life and left to rot, because Angel did not care how it looked.

Regardless of what time had done to the building, Angel did not care about its appearance; he cared about what it reminded him of; who it reminded him of.


	4. Chapter 4: Some Wounds Never Heal

The Boss sat alone on the end of a hospital bed, topless with a large bandage wrapped around his lower ribcages, and the doctor stood next to him holding a bag of medication. For most doctors, it was nerve-wracking to treat a gang-lord, let alone the leader of the notorious Third Street Saints, but this doctor was a private specially trained doctor who would gladly help the Saints whenever any one of them were physically suffering, and not keep a record of it for anyone to ask questions.

The Boss tried to rise from the bed to walk out of the hospital, but flinched in pain and the doctor pushed him back onto the end of the old mattress. Before the Boss had a chance to demand the doctor to let him go, one of his lieutenants walked into the cubicle to check on her leader. She stood wearing a purple half-buttoned shirt underneath a black leather jacket, and had a silver Fleur-De-Lis medallion hanging on her belt above her black skirt. The Boss's attention turned to her as she entered the cubicle, and immediately tried to hide his wounds, whilst the doctor simply grinned and left.

"I take it you _finally_ went to see Angel then?" Viola questioned with an unimpressed tone in her voice and her arms crossed. The Boss was tempted to aim one of his guns at her for the way she spoke to him, but he knew that she was justified in what she was saying; he knew that he should have checked on Angel sooner.

"Yeah, didn't go down well…" The Boss muttered, he tried to say something clever for the situation he was in and what he was going to do next, but he had no idea as he did not expect the meeting with Angel to have gone down so badly.

"Normally, I'd just say that what happened with him and Killbane was just business; Angel lost and needs to suck up his pride…" Viola began, she uncrossed her arms and sat next to the Boss on the edge of the bed, but the Boss turned his back to her as she began to sound like Pierce. "But Killbane wasn't like most assholes I know. He killed my sister, ruined Angel's life, helped destroy the Syndicate on his own and still managed to run out of Steelport thanks to Cyrus…"

"It's just…He's gone now Viola," The Boss tried to reveal his perspective on how important and threatening Killbane really was to the Saints, and he turned back to Viola who looked genuinely interested in her leader's thoughts. "Sure he killed your sister and fucked Angel over, but he never fucked the Saints over as a whole compared to most gangs. Loren killed Gat, which we were all pissed 'bout, but Killbane never did anything…After MurderBrawl; he was just begging me to put him out of his misery…"

"So it's better that he's still alive: He has to live somewhere else and try to rebuild his life again, and since we're around, he'll never be a global threat or as strong as we are…"

Viola looked towards the ground as she thought deeply about what she was saying. The Boss opened his mouth and was about to set her mind to rest, but he realised that it was something that Viola had to sort out on her own.

"So anyway…You all set for the Gangstas In Space Premier?" The Boss asked, Viola quickly lifted her head back up and looked straight towards her leader, and gave a small smile as she answered him.

"Yeah, it should be fun. We spent too long filming that movie, it ought to be a blockbuster…Hopefully Birk didn't ruin it with his shitty acting skills."

The two Saints began laughing at Viola's comment on Josh's acting skills, and for a brief moment, the Boss saw a small change in Viola's personality as, now that Killbane had been humiliated and driven out of the city, she no longer needed to fill her life with the thirst for revenge and a cold demeanour to prove herself. He realised that Viola had become a true Saint; she was a true Saint.

"These bones should heal in time, let's get the fuck outta here." The Boss decided, Viola looked at him confusingly but he dismissed her questions, and quickly rose from the bed and put on his shirt, waistcoat and grey suit. He flinched slightly after putting his arms through the jacket and Viola rushed to help him, but the Boss put his hand out to show that he didn't need any help, and the two Saints walked out of the hospital.

They looked out to the sky of Steelport and then towards the traffic in front of them, and Viola laid her purple sunglasses on her eyes as the sun blazed onto the two Saints. The Boss looked towards a convertible in front of him that instantly made him want to dive straight into the driver's seat and kick him out.

Viola could tell what he was going to do and warned him not to, or he would likely pull his stiches out in a matter of seconds, but even she could not stop the Boss's enthusiasm. He ran quickly towards the car but stopped himself in his tracks after noticing what was in the backseat; a large polished sniper rifle covered in large magazines of ammunition, three rocket launchers with more than enough ammo and in the passenger seat sat a flamethrower.

The driver kept his identity hidden with a pair of black thin sunglasses, and long black silky hair slicked back, and a body armour vest was slightly visible underneath a long brown trenchcoat. The man looked incredibly agitated from what the Boss could see in his half-hidden face, and the small tension between the two was enough to make the Boss walk away swiftly from the convertible, as he had no reason up until this point to arm himself.

The driver smirked at this, and drove on through the streets of Steelport with a cigarette in his mouth, and his radio was tuned to a news bulletin by Jane Valderama, whom, from what the Boss could briefly hear, was talking about the Gangstas In Space Premier in Stilwater.

Viola caught up with her leader and questioned why he stopped to rob an innocent man of his expensive car like he usually does, but the Boss stayed quiet and kept his eyes fixed on the vehicle that faded away into the distance. He told Viola of what he saw, and to tell the other members of the Saints to keep an eye on the traffic cameras to see whether the man was a threat, or just a gun-nut.

"Are you really concerned, Boss?"

"I'm not sure Viola. He was armed to the teeth with guns and looked like he was going to assassinate somebody. Whoever he was, he wasn't a Saint or a cop…So whoever he was, he had no reason to be driving around so casually with guns loaded in his car.


	5. Chapter 5: All The World Is A Stage

Weeks past after the Boss's fight with Angel, and Pierce warned many of the Saints to not comment on what they had heard of the fight, however Pierce's actions were ineffective as the majority of the gang began to question who the stronger man was between the two. Eventually, Pierce himself was drawn into this and gave his opinion many times on who was the stronger man, and revealed to the young recruits a long extensive history of the Boss.

The debates quickly ended after the recruits heard all they needed to know.

The Gangstas In Space Premier had begun, and celebrities walked across the red carpet and alongside the pushy paparazzi, and the innocent fans whom were all begging for autographs were forced out of the way so that the journalists could guarantee their pay-checks. After nearly all of the celebrities had gotten into the cinema, the Saints that had starred in the movie arrived in both limos and their own cars.

First to arrive was _Pierce_, who did not want a reason to be late for the movie, and he bowed himself out of his limo with three models on each of his arms, and a large cigar dangling out of his mouth. He spent nearly twenty minutes posing for the cameras and it was only after the models insisted that he made his way into the cinema.

Surprisingly, Josh Birk and Viola decided to travel together to the cinema, and they arrived shortly after Pierce outside the cinema. After Josh noticed weeks ago that Shaundi was missing, he grew both confused and lost, and focused his attention on Viola to keep himself calm for his _important_ acting career.

Viola wore a royal purple dress with her hair curled and sitting on her shoulders, and she held a white handbag tightly to her chest, which secretly held a pistol inside. After Kiki died and the incident at Magarac Island, Viola believed that she had to always protect herself and that the impossible could strike her at the heart anytime.

Josh wore a traditional jet black suit with a bow tie and plain white shirt, but he carried with him his sword prop from his TV program. Viola tried not to frustrate herself with it, and kept a brave but fake smile in front of the paparazzi with Josh, as he sat signing autographs for the small group of fans whom appeared as if they wanted Josh himself than actual autographs.

Despite the program being aimed at all age groups, the six fans were all women in their early fifties, and kept on trying to drag Josh into the crowd until Viola saved him from the torture and guided him into the cinema.

The Paparazzi nearly fell onto the red carpet as they saw the last limousine pull up outside the building, and watched as Zimos, Jenny Jaros and the famed leader of the Third Street Saints emerged. Jenny wore a bright pink dress with a bow at the top, and kept her hair a dyed purple after the filming of Gangstas In Space, and she had her arms wrapped tightly around the Boss's neck, obviously as a sign of love, not a sign of obsession as some of the Saints once rumoured about.

Zimos wore his usual style of clothing, but he wore a white suit instead of his usual black one, and he did not wear his typical hat either. The Boss walked in a white suit also, as he was hoping that the Saints would try to wear a similar style of clothing, though he was later disgusted when he saw Josh wearing a traditional suit, hoping to please Viola.

The Saints took their seats in the room inside the cinema, right at the front obviously for the best view, however the Boss sat in the row behind his friends and guests with Jenny and Viola, he was glad to be sitting next to his long-time friend Viola who he could freely talk to, but he was secretly yearning to move away from his girlfriend Jenny, as she would never let him out of her sight.

The trailers had ended and the lights were dimming, and Pierce tucked into his popcorn that flew everywhere as he forced his hands to the bottom of it, and the models that had come to the cinema with him were less than thrilled when Josh stretched over their knees, trying to steal some of Pierce's popcorn.

"Hope you're ready for two hours of hell…" Viola moaned, as both she and the Boss knew that they'd never hear the end of commentary from Pierce and Josh.

Before the Boss could reply, Jenny quickly shushed the two as the film began, and the Boss moved back into his seat with his head resting in his right hand; it was only a matter of time before he fell asleep out of boredom.

After half an hour, Jenny nudged the Boss and quickly woke him up, as she pointed impatiently to the screen, and the Boss, dazed, glanced at the screen. All he could see were blurs, but from what he could hear, it sounded as though Jenny's character had just killed the second main antagonist of the film, and the Boss's character was praising her for it. It wasn't hard for the Boss to figure out how infatuated Jenny truly was with him, but he preferred not to think of it.

The Boss placed his head back on top of his right hand as Jenny's attention quickly shifted away from him, and he sat trying to force himself asleep, but Pierce's and Josh's arguing kept him awake. What annoyed the Boss the most was that they weren't even arguing about the movie; they were arguing over who got to eat the last box of nachos.

Viola and Zimos sat looking desperately towards the Boss, praying that he would decide to sneak out of the cinema and save them from the torture, but he couldn't as it would greatly annoy the rest of the Saints, and he would never hear the end of it. As the Boss tried to go back into his slumber, a man walked ignorantly into the room, and straight in front of the screen, which infuriated Pierce enough to shout incredibly harsh taunts at him.

The Boss looked towards him and noticed that he wasn't a normal fan of the movie; he wore a long brown trench-coat and a pair of dark blue cargo pants, and dozens of magazines of ammunition sat on his shoulders. He ran his fingers through his silky black hair and used his other hand to place a cigarette in his mouth. When he was done, he unveiled a flamethrower that was attached to the back of his trench-coat, and gave a cold smirk towards the crowd of the cinema room.

"Don't you fucking dare! You hear me punk!? Don't you fucking dare!"

The Boss's orders not to burn the cinema to the ground were useless, as he began firing the flamethrower towards the front row of the chairs. Fortunately, Pierce and Josh jumped out of the way in time, but the models were turned to small crisps embedded in the blackened chairs, and the Saints started running for the emergency door. The gunman had predicted this, and had wired explosives to the door, which looked as though they would burst if anyone would try to move any of the wires.

The Saints chose to run out of the doors they came through, and amongst them, Pierce and Josh ran out the _quickest_. Viola and Jenny followed them in pursuit, with Jenny screaming in a very loud tone, and Zimos and the Boss tried to keep up with them.

Hordes of other people ran alongside the Saints as they too were endangered, but this only made life worse for the Boss, as he was caught in the screaming crowd and pushed onto the ground. He tried to rise back up but was quickly knocked out, and the gunman chose to focus his wrath onto the decorations inside the building.

When the Boss woke back up, the whole building was cloaked in a fiery blaze, and he quickly brought himself back up to the ground again, and limbed towards what remained of the front door.

The gunman however, blocked his path, and threw his flamethrower on the ground, and brought out two razorblades from his pants pockets, and walked towards the Boss. He walked with a blank look on his face; no eagerness to kill the leader of the Saints, no fear over a possible death in a burning building, just a straight face and clenched hands where the man held the razorblades.

Before he had the chance to strike the Boss, a hooded figure jumped out of nowhere onto the gunman, and tackled him to the ground. He stomped on his face, ensuring that he would not be able to strike back, and the hooded figure helped the Boss away from the fire, and out of the cinema. The Boss had inhaled large amounts of smoke, and appeared as though he was going to suffer from more burn scars, but what concerned the hooded figure the most was that the Boss was struggling to breathe.

Sirens rang out into the Boss's ears, and his faithful friends crowded around him as they helped him into the back of the ambulance with the hooded figure. He was given an oxygen mask and a blanket to wipe his face, and a few police-officers stood in the background by another ambulance, muttering to each other with nothing but disappointed looks in their face; disappointed at how the Boss survived.

Jenny pounced onto the Boss in a troubled state, whilst Zimos patted him on the back and gave him a reassuring grin. Viola stood by the ambulance, smiling and giving out a deep sigh of relief, then looked towards the man who had saved the Boss.

"So, who are you?" Viola began, looking intently towards the man who had took off his hood. "You saved the Boss's _life_…We need to know your name."


	6. Chapter 6: Beauty And The Russian Beast

Hours past after the Saints escaped the climatic end to the Gangstas In Space Premier, and each member who went to the cinema were taken to the nearest hospital in Steelport, and fortunately, none had inhaled too much smoke to be seriously ill. The man who had saved the Boss's life received the warmest, and tightest, of Jenny's hugs, and formally introduced himself to the gang.

He was of middle-eastern descent, and was known as Farid; he had been_ 'released'_ from prison two months ago for burglary, and was struggling to find a job after the crime. Whilst languishing in prison, he had learnt a lot about the legendary Third Street Saints, and his respect for how they treat the police grew. The Boss was pleased to hear how much of a fan Farid was of the gang, and told Pierce to have a group of Saints canonise him into the gang.

Pierce informed him two hours after they left the hospital, Farid passed with flying colours.

The Boss was with Kinzie in her warehouse, and was waiting anxiously to see whether or not Kinzie could discover who the arsonist was. She was searching every CCTV camera of all of the shops near the cinema, looking through the traffic cameras and checking the type of convertible the arsonist was driving after the Boss had described it, and she had also sent some of the Saints to put the word across Steelport that the Boss would pay thousands of dollars for the man's head.

Oleg was with her unsurprisingly, sitting on the couch with his blazer hung up on the door, and Viola was with them as well, as she too was concerned over whom the arsonist was.

"I can't find much that will give us a lead to his identity." Kinzie revealed, she turned her chair around from her computer and faced the Boss, whose eyes were bloodshot red with fury over the arsonist. "The most I can find is the man in his convertible, taking off his trench-coat in the car and putting it in the back, but aside from that, all he does is sit and drive. He doesn't even stop to find a café and eat anything, it's…It's unhuman…"

The Boss sighed as Viola stood closer to him, and they stood together, observing the computer screen. It showed the arsonist in his car, holding the steering wheel with one hand and throwing his trench-coat into the back seat with the other hand. Viola looked at the screen, then at the Boss, then back at the screen, hoping to notice something that he wouldn't to impress everyone in the room. Finally, something caught the Boss's attention.

"Wait-Right there! Zoom in on the pocket on the left side of his trench-coat!" The Boss ordered, his eyes lit up at the sight of a clue, and walked closer towards the screen, and then quickly looked back at Viola, influencing her to follow him.

The close-up of the trench-coat pocket revealed a pair of keys sat on top of a razorblade, and Kinzie focused on the hand-written address. Kinzie searched the address into her computer, and found the location; a house in the Suburbs district of Stilwater, which interested the Boss.

"_That's_ where we need to go!" The Boss decided, he patted Kinzie on the back and thanked her, then nodded at Oleg as he prepared to leave the warehouse, however, Kinzie asked him to wait for a few moments, as she had an announcement.

"I don't really, know what to say in these situations, but I guess, you all being my friends, you should know. Oleg and I, we're having a ba-"

Before she could finish her life-changing news, the Boss's phone rang and after he looked at it, it was Pierce calling him. He hadn't heard from Pierce for a while, and despite the aggressive looks he was receiving from the rest of the Saints in the room, he answered it.

"Make it quick Pierce, what's up?"

"Farid's itching for some action! You figured anything out on our arsonist guy yet?"

"We've got an address; an apartment block in Stilwater. Tell Farid he can be part of a covert response team that I'm setting up, and to get himself ready…He's gonna have his first fight _alongside_ the Saints."

"Got it!"

The Boss ended the phone call, and finally, Kinzie was allowed to finish her news. By the time the Boss had returned to his friends, Oleg was holding Kinzie in his right arm, and she was trying to wrap her legs across his waist so that she could reach his face. The Boss and Viola did not need their suspicions to be confirmed by either of the lovers, as they both smiled softly at each other when they had finished thinking about what Kinzie's news could be.

"I'm pregnant!" Kinzie finally revealed, she kissed Oleg quickly on the lips and the Boss and Viola walked up to the pair to congratulate them. The Boss shuck Oleg's right hand with both of his hand to make up for size, and Viola hugged Kinzie for her new happiness.

They stayed at the warehouse for a few hours, talking about what the child was to be named and other baby chatter, and then the Boss told Viola that they had to go to Stilwater right away and find the arsonist. After saying goodbye, the two Saints left the blissful couple alone in the warehouse to remind themselves of their love for each other, and the Boss and Viola made their way to the airport in Viola's car. As they neared the airport, the Boss received a text message from the new Saint himself, Farid, and he read it out to Viola.

"I can't tell you how grateful I am for this opportunity! Pierce has got us all ready, he said he had something to do so he _won't_ be accompanying us. I think he said something about Viola coming so whatever. Again, thanks for letting me join in this mission!"

"He sounds a little…Overeager doesn't he?" Viola noted, there was nothing that she could complain about aside from Pierce's decision not to join the crew, and Farid was full of too much optimism to moan about.

"Optimism can help sometimes Viola." The Boss replied, he tucked his phone into his pocket and looked at his reflection in the windshield, and after a short silence, concluded "He reminds me of another Saint I knew, a kid, called Carlos…Things didn't end well for him, but now, I know what I did wrong, and I won't make those mistakes again."

"You definitely won't make those mistakes again," Viola confirmed, the Boss looked at her as she agreed with him, and gave what appeared as a small grin to him. It was very rare that the Boss would earn her smile or approval. "The Saints has become far much more than what it was when Carlos was around…From what I heard of him, he was a good kid, things should have gone better for him…Do you, do you think about him sometimes?"

"Sometimes?" The Boss quizzed himself, he had reached the airport and parked the vehicle behind a taxi and unbuckled his seatbelt, then looked intently at Viola. "Always. I think about him, Johnny, and all the other Saints who died for me, for us…"

The Boss and Viola got out of the car and began walking through the front entrance of the airport, and as they approached one of the flight attendants to ask for when the first flight to Stilwater was, Viola grabbed the leader by the hands and brought him backwards.

"You don't still…Blame me for what happened to Johnny, do you?"

"Of course I don't Viola. I wish things were different, I wish I could go back to that plane and save him and kill Loren sooner, but then I remember, if I did, you probably wouldn't have joined the Saints…No one questions your loyalties Viola; Johnny served the Saints for a long time and his death was not for nothing…But as Pierce says, life has to go on, we can't keep blaming ourselves for what happened to Johnny…"

"So if he was turned up alive on your doorstep, and told you to kill me for him…You wouldn't?"

"Fuck. No. Never."

"Promise?"

The Boss couldn't help but laugh at Viola when he asked her to make the promise, she had casually took out her pistol and aimed it at the flight attendants head, and forced her to make quick arrangements for their flight over the phone next to the receptionist desk.

"I promise _you_, Viola."


	7. Chapter 7: An Honest Sacrifice

Viola sat nervously in the passenger's side of the Boss's black Neuron, with Farid in the back seat and the Boss contently in the driver's seat, and they were both eating a burger they had bought from Freckle Bitches. They were sitting in the restaurants car-park, looking across the street at a block of apartment buildings, waiting to see if their wanted arsonist would make his move.

"So when are we move in and find this bastard?" Viola had to ask, the three had been waiting in the car for an hour, and yet nothing had happened. The Boss looked to her, and then at his own reflection in the windshield, then gathered his thoughts to create the next stage of his plan.

"As soon as we block off every route of escape, _we'll_ start this shit off." He replied, he had finished his burger and threw the wrapper out of the window, onto the ground, and Farid quickly followed his actions by doing the same with the wrapper from his burger. "Farid, has everyone finished yet?"

Farid reached into his cargo pants pocket, checked his messages on his phone, and returned to facing the Boss.

"They've established a perimeter across the whole district, set up blockades on the railroads, and has explosives planted to each road intersection. As soon as they've sent out groups on boats to watch over the river, we'll be ready." Farid concluded, as he began listing what the Saints had done, the Boss and Viola looked straight at each other, both impressed by the young man's strategic plan.

"So…He's not going anywhere?" The Boss asked, but he knew secretly that he didn't need to bother, he was just hoping to build up Farid's confidence.

"Not unless he has grown wings…" Farid laughed; he tried to come up with a good joke for the situation, and to make him feel more comfortable, the Boss laughed along with him. Viola being Viola, simply smiled politely at Farid, choosing to neither getting his hopes up too much nor making him want to resent her.

"Wait…Something's _wrong_." Farid leaned forward out of his chair and held his phone closely to his face as he reluctantly broke the Boss's good mood. "Pierce's just sent me a message, Goddamn it!"

"What's wrong?" The Boss asked, he was about to let out a deep sigh but after seeing the eyes Viola darted at him, and the apologetic look on Farid's face, he held it in.

"He's under the impression that you wanted the arsonist taken out ASAP and has decided to come _alone_ to execute him...I-I'm sorry Boss…" Farid replied, he tossed the phone onto the seat next to him, and looked down at his shoes in anger. The Boss put his hand on Farid's shoulder, noticing his self-esteem issues.

"It's not your fault Farid…I'll call the smug bastard." As the Boss turned to get his phone from his pocket, Viola nodded happily to him, noticing how much the Boss is treating Farid differently to the late Carlos Mendoza. He dialled Pierce's number, and sat in a very uncomfortable position, which only made him angrier.

"Pierce, I thought you had plans for tonight…" The Boss snarled, he truly was in a bad mood and was taking out on the man responsible for the change in plan.

"I've made some free time; the Saints come first don't they?"

"Where are you?" The Boss demanded, but he quickly realised he wasn't going to get a straight answer.

"You know me…I _love_ to make an entrance!"

Pierce hung up on the Boss and the leader put his phone back into his pocket, and looked out towards the penthouses worringly. Both Viola and Farid had focused their sights keenly on the penthouses as well, and the three were stunned when they saw Pierce arrive. He had chosen his favourite mode of transport; a helicopter, and was playing _Mozart_ very loudly on the radio. Within minutes, he had blown the entire complex to dust.

"Well, if you're going to fuck up, may as well get it out of the way…" The Boss decided. "Farid, tell the guys to move in, no point in playing it subtle anymore!"

"You got it!" Farid replied, the three Saints had run out of the car across the street, and they quickly reached what remained of the penthouses.

They were quickly joined by the rest of the Saints, but as they searched through the debris, they could not find the arsonist. They couldn't even find anyone. No men, women or children, or even a dog. The Boss was concerned by this, and as he stood looking across the street, the thought he didn't want to think crossed his mind.

"AMBUSH! TAKE COVER!"

Rockets blasted towards the Saints from across the Saints, and the Boss quickly pulled Viola's hand, and brought her to shelter behind the Foreign Power car dealership shop next to the apartment block. Farid stayed with the Saints in what remained of the apartment block, and they returned fire onto the assailants with brute force, whom looked as though they were firing from a nightclub in the distance.

"What do we do now!?" Viola asked, she armed herself with an AR-55 and looked towards the Boss with concern in her eyes, as she didn't know her way around Stilwater, and they had no idea what they were up against.

"We return fire! We'll move across the street, and take 'em out!" The Boss decided, he brought out his own rocket launcher and with the taste of fast-food in his mouth, he charged across the road, waving a rocket launcher in the air and screaming aggressive taunts like the madman he was.

Before he had a chance to fight back at the gunmen, he looked into the distance and nearly fell back at his astonishment; he saw hundreds of men, marching on the streets in front of him, all in neat rows wielding rifles.

He knew how the fight was going to end; there hundreds of them, and only around fifty of the Saints. He noticed that the explosives that were planted on the roads were strangely disarmed by the gunmen and all of the Saints that were supposed to be watching from the other roads were all dead.

With anger and a bitter resentment in his eyes, the Boss decided to make the decision that no one else could make.

He told Viola to go back to call Pierce for an evacuation, and to retreat with Farid and the others, whilst he distracted the small army.

Of course, Viola objected to the Boss's plan, calling his insane and very senseless, but the Boss reminded her that he was their leader, and that she had to do what he said. He knew that was the only way to keep her safe. Viola then unwillingly ran back to the apartment block to regroup with Farid and the others, whilst calling Pierce for aerial transport.

The Boss stood looking out towards the small militia, and all he could think of, was Viola. He knew that deep down, she was right, and he should not attempt to sacrifice himself for her and the others, but to him, it wasn't a choice. He had let other friends like Johnny and Lin go off to fight his enemies for him, to give him a chance to fight back and to avenge them. But not today.

Now the Boss was giving the Saints something to avenge, and he was going to prove how much he cares for his friends, despite how many people called him an asshole. He was going to do it, like Johnny did it.

Despite his legendary history for gunfights, and always defeating the impossible, it didn't take long for the Boss to be outmatched by the large group of gunmen, he fired a few rockets and managed to kill a couple of bitches that weren't firing their rifles, but he was quickly knocked to the ground and stripped of his rocket launcher.

The Boss didn't care however, he had planned to be kidnapped, as he wanted to meet the man who had brought all of the gunmen together, and why he was targeting the Saints. Then at least, he would either give the Saints something to avenge, or be able to tell them all that he knew.

One of the gunmen felt cocky enough to stomp on the Boss's face and be the man to be congratulated by his leader, but the Boss didn't have the time to tell the soldier what he thought of him. He grabbed the Boss's body and ordered on his walkie-talkie for reinforcements to enter the area, and within minutes, they pulled up in a van right next to the group of soldiers that surrounded the Boss.

The Boss was thrown in the back, and, as they drove away from the suburbs, the Boss drifted off, surprisingly feeling pleased with himself.


	8. Chapter 8: The Pain Of Doing Nothing

Hi everyone, I-am-the-Peel here again,

Here's chapter 8, the longest and biggest plot-turning chapter of the story; and features Shaundi. The first half is pretty boring, descriptions and character introductions but once the Boss meets Edgar, it's really interesting.

Just to point out, there's some really deep parts halfway of this chapter, really sensitive topics. Those of you who are annoyed at it, I'm sorry, but it'll help to improve the plot massively for the characters.

Aside from that, I hope you enjoy and give me a review. I might not be able to update soon as I've got A Level exams when I return. Yay me :/

* * *

**Chapter 8**

The Boss opened his bruised, bloodshot eyes and found himself tied to a chair nailed to a wooden floor, and all he could see throw the small crack in his eyes were a group of soldiers. They wore army berets with the usual cargo pants, along with dark brown boots and red t-shirts, and wore army and bullet proof vests on top. They all stood around a table, playing with a pack of cards and letting their rifles lay against the walls. None of them noticed that the Boss was awake, which gave him the perfect opportunity to observe his surroundings, and to plan ahead for his escape.

He sat in the chair for twenty minutes, trying to devise an idea that would get him out of the room and also wouldn't get him killed. Eventually, he gave up trying to think of one, and chose to think of what his friends would do. He remembered that when he was kidnapped by the Syndicate with Shaundi and Johnny, they were all tied to chairs that were nailed down as well, and Johnny simply pulled the chair off the floor and saved _everyone_.

Sadly however, the Boss did not have strength as respectable and worthy as Johnny did. The Boss thought that if he was alive, he'd know what to do in this situation, as he had been kidnapped plenty of times and learnt from each experience. He thought for the first time in months, that it should have been him that died on the plane and not Johnny, as Johnny was a natural born leader. He would stand and take bullets for his friends, tell them where to run for cover, but instead, the Boss would be the _one_ told where to run for cover.

Finally, the man who had planned the attack on the Saints revealed himself, and judging from the reaction he received from the group of soldiers, he was in a very pissed off mood. His appearance confused the Boss, as he wore a dark red shirt that was tucked into a pair of black trousers, with a large grey vest on top that resembled body armour, but it was much thicker. He had a shaved head but an overgrown brown beard, and several stitches around the back of his neck.

He noticed the Boss sitting in the chair, and walked towards him, with neither of his eyes blinking or his face changing its expression; it truly was inhuman and slightly terrifying.

"You know who I am?" He snapped, but the Boss was also in a pissed off mood, and was not going to show him any respect.

"I don't need to know who you are; you're just another bitch, and soon, I will kill you."

"No. No you won't." He snickered back, the Boss grew even angrier at this, as the man held his anger back incredibly well, and did not even clench his eyebrows with the Boss's taunt.

"You fucking crazy, kid? I will fucking kill you!"

"You think I am mad, but soon, you shall see, that every move, every strike I'll take, will bring this country into chaos and anarchy. You will not have the chance to fight me, because you will be fighting yourself."

The Boss was confused at his words, and understandably mistook him for another wannabe legendary gangster, whilst the man drew out a small army knife from his left-trouser pocket, and began to claw away at the Boss's face. Every cut he made, every time he drove the knife deeper into the Boss's skin, he held his eyes closed and listened closely to his cries of pain, and began to form a picture of what this man was _actually_ like.

"The fuck is wrong with you? You look as if you don't even want to do this…The hell you closing your eyes for?"

"This will let me see what type of man you are. Whether you are the man people say you are; brave, noble, forceful, whether people truly cannot keep their eyes away from you…But they are wrong; you _are_ weak.

Perhaps you were as strong as they say a long time ago, but you have become a self-doubting, breakable, and attention-seeking whore…Even with your many followers, your devoted friends, and your nearly unlimited resources, you have been corrupted.

This, is what your greed, and arrogance, has brought you. My name is Edgar Winslow, and I will bring your world to an end.

I will never stop.

I will never rest.

And _neither_ will you…"

As Edgar finally stopped cutting the Boss's face with the knife, he left the Boss to wallow in the chair with what he had learnt, and all the Boss could do was sit and let his eyes widen at his words. Every word Edgar had said was right. The Boss doubted that Johnny should have ever let him lead the Saints, he was breakable and flinched even with the smallest of wounds, and he loved attention in the media…He believed that his fame and notoriety would do good for him in his life, but it truly has made him weak; he didn't care about what the Saints were becoming, just the money.

He was a fucking sellout.

"The night is young, Butcherer, and I will be needing this room. So if you'll please…"

Before the Boss had a chance to look up at Edgar, he stabbed him mercilessly in the neck with a syringe which the Boss quickly realised to his dismay was a sedative. In a matter of seconds, the room turned upside down, Edgar was standing on the ceiling, and everything the Boss could see and hear was a blur, and the Boss drifted into a deep slumber.

The Boss reawakened once again in the wooden chair and, to his horror, he could see the one person he did not imagine to see sitting in front of him, also held against her will; Shaundi. Only she wasn't held in a chair like him; she was tied down to the table, and all of her guns, grenades, knives and shotguns were taken away from her and left on the floor. The Boss didn't know what to be surprised the most at; Shaundi being kidnapped along with him or how much guns she had. Then he realised why-She was now overprotective, perhaps Johnny's death showed her that anyone really could die any second.

The Boss stopped thinking about Shaundi and Johnny, as it always gave him a reason to hate himself and want to die. He didn't want Edgar to know this, as it would be another example of doubting himself.

Instead of Edgar walking into the room, a large burly man entered in his place, and at first, he tried to hide his face with his hands out of fear, but after taking a drink from a bottle alcohol from his pocket, he began to loosen up. He was dressed in a dark black sailor outfit that came with a captain's hat, with a blue turtleneck jumper, and had an incredibly large face full of sweat and spots.

This was _"Edgar's financial investor and business associate"_ Tommy Quiver, but after he took more swigs from his bottle of alcohol, he demanded that he would be called _"The Skipper"_, and continued to reveal more of himself. He looked towards the Boss, and to make sure that he was definitely tied firmly enough to the chair, he threw the empty bottle straight towards him, and watched as the glass pierced the already damaged face.

Deciding that the Boss was indeed held beyond his will to the chair, Quiver turned to Shaundi, who the Boss decided was seemingly affected by several sedatives as well, judging from the mark on her neck and the pile of syringes underneath the table.

"Touch me, and I will fucking kill you…" Shaundi tried to shout, but she could barely see the large man in front of her, let alone scare him enough to send him running.

"My, my, my…Eddie wasn't lying was he when he said he was going to pay me back!" Quiver took his hat off and threw it into the corner, then wiped his arm over his damp hair, and unbuckled his belt.

"Look at you…All pretty with a bow too. I think it's time to _unwrap_ you…"

"I'm gonna kill you all!" The Boss protested, Edgar had injected a substantial amount of sedatives into him, but they did not have the same dosage as they did onto Shaundi, meaning that the Boss was forced to watch and hear the horror that was about to torment him.

"You not doing anything asshole...You're gonna sit there, and shut the fuck up! You're not ruining this for me! Eddie was right about you…You really love being the centre of attention, don't you?"

The Boss could make no response, not because of the sedatives, but because he could not deny it.

"But this, this isn't about you…" Quiver turned to Shaundi, and took off his sailor jacket and pulled down his pants, whilst the Boss tried to shout at him, even pleading with him not to do anything.

"This is about _you_…"

"No…Ple-Please don't…" Shaundi begged, but the sailor man ignored her, pinned her arms down around her head which was shaking violently, and then made himself comfortable. All Shaundi could see was the sweat on Quiver's forehead drip down onto her, and her own sweat dripped down her face, ruining her mascara and lipstick; ruining how she looked. The Boss knew that this wasn't the real Shaundi, this wasn't the fierce pissed off suicidal girl who would blow her temper at anything the Syndicate did because of Johnny.

Whatever Edgar did to her, it must have been too immoral if Shaundi has become a broken shell of the person she once was.

"Do yourself a favour and shut up…This is going to hurt. _Badly_."

Blood began to leak out of the Boss's nose as he shouted in desperation and tried to shake his arms out for freedom, but he couldn't, he was too weak. He was not alone, as Shaundi was doing the same and feeling the same pain he was. Only stronger. She was stronger than he was, as he couldn't bear to watch it, to hear it, to live with it. He had to think of something, something good, to make him forget, so that he could go back to how his life was, back to the easy life of signing movie deals and selling energy drinks. Then he knew who to think of.

Johnny.

He began to remember the last words Johnny had said to him that night in the prison cell. "We've traded our dicks in for pussies…" The Boss's face grew redder and redder with the blood rush and anger, and the Boss began to fight off the sedatives as he shook himself side to side, and fell down onto the ground with the chair. He grew the courage to face the reality to "We've traded our dicks in for pussies…" He squirmed on the floor like an injured animal, trying to break free and flee from its predator, before it could swoop down and finish it off. "We've traded our dicks in for pussies…"

"Go! I got this!"

"NOOOOO!"

The Boss broke free from his bounds, but as soon as he stood up, he quickly realised that he was still feeling the effects of the sedatives, and he was still feeling sick over watching Quiver. He tumbled, and as soon as Quiver noticed him, he pulled up his pants and grabbed his jacket off the ground, and took a final look at Shaundi. Her hair had been pulled ferociously, her shirt had been ripped apart, her pants were gone and her g-string was no more, and her eyes, her once light blue eyes, were now hidden by the dark messed up mascara. Quiver then realised that his fun was over, and ran out the door, his hands shaking all over as he turned the door-knob.

"I…I got you Shaundi. We're gonna be okay…"

The Boss released Shaundi from her restraints, and looked around the room again. He knew that if he walked down the door, he would likely receive a bullet straight in-between his eyes. Fortunately, there was a window close to them, and after the Boss looked out through it, he found that he was only on the first floor of the building, wherever they were. He then grabbed the wooden chair that once held him to his torture, and threw it out of the window, and after a few seconds, jumped out of the window with Shaundi in his arms. He jumped out, feeling as if he was her saviour, but he remembered that he wasn't. Far from it.

He was the little bitch that watched her get fucked by some fat bastard, to the point where she _bled_.

"We've traded our dicks in for pussies…."

The Boss scurried through the darkened streets with the broken woman in his arms, traumatised and struggling to cope with reality. The sounds of dogs barking, bins falling and helicopters in the distance terrified the Boss, but to him, they did not terrify Shaundi, as she didn't flinch. She didn't even blink. The sounds grew louder and the sounds of footsteps could be heard, sirens too. They grew louder and louder, and the Boss felt as if they following them-It had to be Edgar's men, no one else had the reason to be following them. The Boss had to walk faster, faster, and faster, or the street he scurried across would have been his grave.

He walked with Shaundi in his arms for a whole half hour, and neither of them said a word to each other. Would everything change if they did? No. It would have just been worse. Much worse. It would have meant that they accepted what happened, and wanted to move on with it. Neither of them were in that state.

Thankfully after a long walk, the Boss found a payphone and rang the first number that came into his head; Pierce's number. After what felt like an eternity that was only ten seconds, Pierce picked up.

"Boss! Where the fuck are you!? We've been looking all over Stil-"

"Tell Kinzie to track this call, I got no idea where the hell we are…"

"Got it. She's with me now, it won't take long-"

"Good…I found Shaundi, Pierce. Wait-No-No I didn't…I found _what's left_ of her."

The Boss ended the call, and sat Shaundi beside the phone booth and looked out towards the gloomy midnight sky, trying to get the pictures out of his head, the noises out of his head. He couldn't, and began to puke all over the gutter until he started to choke. Even when he started to choke, he didn't want to stop as it was pain. Pain that he finally felt, it wasn't as bad as Shaundi's pain, but it was a start, and he wanted to pay as much as she did, because _he deserved it_. He watched like a little bitch.

"Bo-Boss…" Shaundi began, as soon as she tried to speak, the Boss fell next to her, holding her by the shoulder and trying to make himself feel as though he was doing something important that would help her. It didn't work of course, he would eventually understand that nothing would work.

"Don't tell _anyone_ about this…I wan-" Shaundi let out a small sludge of vomit that began to dribble down her chin, past her ruined lipstick. "I want no shit for this…And I want to kill that sick fuck _myself_…"


	9. Chapter 9: This Is Worth Fighting For

Hey everyone, I-am-the-Peel here!

This story is back, and hopefully better than ever! My AS level exams won't be resuming until May/June so I'm back to writing up my most favourite story here! This chapter is not as dramatic or entertaining as the previous chapters, but it is necessary for the plot. It's all mostly an emotional chapter, focusing on Shaundi and the Boss.

Oh, and this is out of the blue, but I've decided: This story will have a sequel :D Hope you enjoy, and please, _please_ write some reviews!

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After a worrying while in the dark night, the light of a helicopter shone onto the Boss and Shaundi, and in a matter of minutes, they were brought to Purgatory; the original Third Street Saints headquarters since the resurrection. With the gang's takeover of Steelport and their rising popularity in the city, the Saints normally spend most of their time there and Stilwater has rarely seen an actual Saint roam the street. The recruits stationed in the city were still protecting their home, but lived their lives in their homes, drinking and smoking themselves to death. They faced the same problem Johnny did.

They've had enough of the relaxation, and want to start a fight. Even if they got killed for it.

Shaundi had been resting in the Boss's room in the underground palace, and three of the gang's private doctors all surrounded her bed, checking her heart monitor and discussing what to do next to help her. The Boss stood in the doorway with large bandages around his stomach, and had carelessly thrown his jacket, waistcoat and shirt onto the floor, his eyes fixated intensely on the heart monitor. Zimos and Oleg were in the corridor behind him, waiting to be given their orders like the reliable soldiers they were. The Boss pushed Shaundi's arms back underneath her quilt, and after checking she was save, left her in peace to recover.

He gave a quick look at his two followers and walked out of the room to speak privately with them, whilst the doctors pretended not to look on. Shaundi's eyes began to open, and the first sight she laid her eyes on was the Boss, and she tried to listen to what he was telling Oleg and Zimos to do. But her senses were failing her, and she struggled thanks to the large quantity of morphine the doctors had given her.

The Boss looked back into the room and saw that Shaundi was awake; he finished his conversation with Oleg and Zimos who left the Purgatory with haste, and the Boss then hurried back into the room with a slight limp. Shaundi rested her head back onto the pillow after he returned to her side, and he looked to the doctors, wanting to know what was next for Shaundi.

"So what else are you guys gonna do?" He asked, with a slight aggressive but concerned tone in his voice.

"I-I believe there is nothing more we can do…" One of the doctors whimpered, he was tapping on the table behind him nervously as he knew the Boss didn't want to hear those words. "Most of the bones in her neck were broken and they will need to repair with time on their own, we've numbed the pain as much as possible, but time is the only healer for her…"

"You can't be fucking serious! What else have you done!?" The Boss demanded, he was beginning to lose his temper as the doctors tried to impress the Boss. He thought that they had given up on her, and they truly had, but he was not prepared to ever give up on her; she was one of his OG's.

"Her jaw was severely dislocated, most likely by somebody trying to hold her head still…" Another doctor moaned, the Boss was now moving closer towards the doctors whom were moving further towards the back of the room. "Her upper lip is also split so we've had to wire her mouth shut to let the bones find their place…"

"So you've shut her up so she can't complain either? What the fuck have you actually done to help her!?" The Boss roared, he was now incredibly pissed and one of the doctors fell to the floor and was trying to hide behind the other, but none of them were safe.

"We've done all we could…We've given here everything to limit as much pain as possible, but for now; only she can save herself.

You should brace yourself for the worse…" The doctor on the floor pleaded, the Boss was about to kick him to the floor but he stopped once the doctor told him what had to happen next. An idea then formed in the leader's head, as the doctor's last words made their way into his skull.

"Thank you doctors…Leave us. Now."

The three doctors galloped out of the room as fast as they could and the Boss watched them as they nearly tripped on the carpet near the elevator. He then turned to Shaundi who he could see wanted to speak to him; he knew exactly what she wanted to ask him, but he had to pretend that he didn't know what she wanted. The answer to her question was no. He had not found Quiver. The one chance he had to make up for being a little bitch, and he hadn't took it.

"Just take it easy Shaundi, it'll get better, trust me…" He was pacing around the room, trying to think of words that would comfort Shaundi but nothing was going to comfort her. She had been kidnapped, beaten, raped, and couldn't even stand on her own two feet.

The only person she could trust, was her leader. To most people, this would sound reassuring, but her leader used to be a cold, ruthless asshole…Now he was a pussy that signed autographs and watched his friends die, or just suffer.

…

Days past after the doctors had left the Purgatory, and interestingly, none of the doctors had returned for their payslips, but nobody asked any questions. The Boss stayed in Shaundi's room every day; hour by hour, day by day, sunrise to sunset; he never left her. He kept on trying to keep her entertained by playing cards with her, reading books, and just talking. Talking about anything that would make her feel better; her life in university, in prison, and about Johnny.

She loved listening to the Boss talk about Johnny, about all of the jobs they had to do in the Saints back when they were just a street gang. She heard about how crazy he was, how he ran down statues with bulldozers, and how he survived a direct shotgun pellet to the knee and still had the balls to piss Tony Green off about his slut of a girlfriend.

Every time the Boss got up to bring food into the room, she would always grab onto his arm, thinking he would leave her. But he never did. He just kept on talking, but it wasn't enough. Sure it was nice to hear why the man she loved so much was such a badass, but she wanted more. Like the Boss, all she wanted was revenge.

One morning, the Boss was fast asleep on the chair he pulled up next to Shaundi with a book covering his face, whilst the vixen lay in the bed, drawing in a sketch book. If the Boss was awake, he'd certainly compliment her art as her skill was impressive. She drew portraits of the Boss asleep in an awkward position, one of Pierce being…His usual self, and one of Johnny.

Then at the back of the sketch book, she had drawn dozens of small sketches of Quiver; all with him suffering at Shaundi's hands. One had him shot down in the head, another had him stabbed with a samurai sword, and another had him being tortured by Shaundi with a meat cleaver. Interestingly, the last picture had him buried alive in a _coffin_, bleeding slowly.

She really was thinking a lot like Johnny. To her, that was a blessing, but the Boss would eventually realise that it was a _curse_.

The sound of Shaundi aggressively rubbing out parts of Quiver's face in the sketch book were enough to wake the Boss, who rubbed his eyes just before noticing Shaundi drawing in the book.

"What are you drawing?" He asked, he almost slurred his words and for a brief moment, it appeared as though he wanted to go back to sleep, but he grew interested upon looking at the portraits.

Before he had the chance to look more at the drawings, Shaundi quickly closed the book and held it tightly to her chest underneath the quilt. The Boss had no choice but to change the conversation.

"Wh-Why don't we watch something on the TV?" He decided, he was still a bit concerned as to why Shaundi would want to hide something from him, but he didn't want to bite. Last thing she needed was her bitch of a boss invading her privacy.

The Boss grabbed the TV remote on the desk next to the bed, and began flicking through channels on the plasma TV. He wanted to put _Professor Genki's Super-Ethical Climax_, but Shaundi shook her head as she hated the sight of the pink cat, she thought it was ridiculously childish. He changed the channel to Shaundi's own show, _I Wanna Sleep With Shaundi_, but once again, Shaundi shook her head as she didn't want to be reminded of the responsibilities she forgotten about.

Then the Boss turned on the news, and before he could turn to see Shaundi's response, he found himself locked in watching the presidential debate. Out of all the senators in the US, it just had to be Monica Hughes who was running for President on the Republicans side, much to the Boss's annoyance as he despised the woman.

Thankfully however, she was going up against Barack Obama in the Democrats side, and there was no way she could ever beat him. He had done eight whole years of serving his country proud, and not even the tragic story of her dead husband would gain her enough votes to beat him.

"God, I hate that bitch…One day, when things are different, I'll put a bullet in her head once and for all…" The Boss mumbled, though he was loud enough for Shaundi to hear him from across the bed. Those were the only words that morning that had put a smile on her face.

"So…What do you want to do today? I could get Pierce or Josh to lend us some vid games if your interested-Or even some DVDs-Hell, we could even-" The Boss was rambling on about what great things Shaundi could do today, but none of them sounded remotely interesting to her. Fortunately she didn't have to tell him to stop, as there was a knock from the door.

"Oleg, I don't care if some bitches are trying to hold up some of the Planet Saints," The Boss began, he was in no mood to go out and do his usual job of checking up on his businesses. "Just tell Pierce or Viola to get it sorted…"

"I am not here for the usual matters Boss…" Oleg replied, his cryptic response was enough for the Boss to turn himself fully around to confront him. Shaundi's eyes were already focused on him as she hadn't seen any of the other Saints for days. Maybe even weeks, she couldn't remember how long it had been. The Boss was too damn protective of his family.

"Kinzie has been searching for the man you asked for these past few days, and she believes she may have tracked his location for tomorrow evening."

"Which one?" The Boss asked, to Shaundi, there were two people he wanted to find, but she was only hoping for one.

"Quiver." Oleg let out the words that gave Shaundi a reason to rise up in her bed and let the sketchbook slide out onto the floor. "Kinzie says that he is a legitimate turned corrupt businessman, who works in weapon manufacturing. However, his company has been low in the stock profit rates for months, and it is nearing bankruptcy. So he has been reduced to dealing with the blackmarket…"

"Go on." The Boss added, Oleg's information was enough to bring the leader to his feet, and as he foolishly kept his attention on Oleg, Shaundi began to tear the metal braces off her upper lip and her jaw, then the tube of a small dose of morphine out of her arm.

"There is an auction tomorrow evening for numerous weapons that…Most armed forces would not procure. He will be in a warehouse in Hampton Heights, Stalicoast, and he only has a small group of guards that will be watching over him." Oleg concluded, however the names and information he gave his leader were too much for him to take in.

"Stalicoast? Where the hell is that, and how many guards does he actually have on him?" The Boss asked, not only was he worried of how far his new enemies travelled, but by the possible gangwars he could have.

"Stalicast; it northeast of Steelport and is quite a large city, much larger than Steelport and Stilwater. It is mostly a group of islands filled with low classed suburbs and industries, but there is one small island at the back of the city where the rich are allowed to live. The group of guards that will be protecting Quiver are nothing to worry about. He calls his guards _"The Prosperous Marines"_ and only uses them as a method of tying up loose ends. If we take the next flight in a hour, we should be at Hampton Heights by tomorrow."

The Boss nodded at his words and told him to get Pierce and tell him the news, and walked back to the bed where Shaundi was resting. But when he looked back, Shaundi wasn't resting. She was fully clothed, armed with a pistol and had managed to shake off the remaining pain that she had.

"Let's go and get the bastard…" Shaundi declared, the Boss was very worried as she almost tripped when walking across the room which showed that she was still not ready to walk, let alone fight.

"Shaundi, I promise you that son of a bitch will get what's coming to him, but you've gotta stay here…Him and Winslow almost killed you, fuck knows what they're gonna do if they've got illegal home-made weapons on them…" Shaundi chuckled at his words whilst Oleg stood silent behind the two, observing the situation that the Boss was in and noted his leadership.

"You can't kill me…._No one_ can kill me. Now let's fucking go!"


	10. Chapter 10: Time And Fate

Another action packed chapter with a few surprises! The more reviews I have, the more motivated I am to update!

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The Boss drove with haste to the Wardill Airport with Shaundi and Pierce in his purple SUV, and took the first plane to Stalicoast. Kinzie had told him over the phone that she and Oleg would be making their own way to the city with reinforcements, but Shaundi had muttered to the Boss whilst sitting in the plane that she didn't want reinforcements. She didn't _need_ reinforcements.

To her, this was a meal. She was the one who had spent time making it and finishing it, and did not want to share her pleasure with anyone else. The Boss sat next to her, restraining himself from telling her to calm down, as he felt he couldn't let her down anymore.

"Boss?" Pierce began calling over to the Boss across the seats in the plane, and the leader stopped worrying for a moment to answer him.

"Yeah?" He replied with a slight break in his voice. Shaundi glared at him for a moment, feeling that he was actually scared for what was about to happen. Then she corrected herself; scared, out of all people, she could never think that her leader would ever be scared, especially over some shithead like Quiver.

"That son of a bitch ain't getting outta this one…He's a dead man walking!"

Shaundi gave him a warm smirk as she began reloading her weapons over and over, making sure that she was perfectly armed to the teeth with ammo. The Boss however sat next to her resting his head next to the window, thinking deeply about how much his gang had changed in only two years. How the life of organised crime had changed his friends.

What happened to his hippie vixen that could turn any man's head with a sombrero?

…

The trio sat themselves on the roof of a small diner in the middle of the night, looking across the street towards a warehouse where their target was meant to be. Shaundi rested her sniper rifle on the edge of the roof, and made herself comfortable next to the piles and piles of ammunition. As if she needed it all.

Pierce sat with a pair of binoculars, looking across the street through the windows of the warehouse, making sure that the target was where they wanted him to be. The Boss was on the phone, going over the plan to Kinzie who had told him that Oleg and Saint Reinforcements were positioned to the south of the warehouse, and that, should the plan somehow go wrong, the reinforcements would move in and torch the warehouse to the ground.

The leader had too much to lose to go forward with this mission. Normally he was never scared to look through a scope and shoot a bastard in-between the eyes, but this was different. Edgar's words had engraved themselves into his head, and no matter how many times Pierce and Shaundi had told the Boss how Edgar couldn't escape, the Boss still had his doubts. Edgar wasn't normal; he wasn't the usual type of gangster that the Saints would fight. There was something seriously wrong with that bastard.

The Boss tucked his phone away into his cargo pants' pockets, and crouched next to Pierce who handed over the binoculars to him.

"The Intel checks out…It's Tommy Quiver. _'The Skipper'_ himself…" Pierce whispered, he looked over to Shaundi with a hardened expression in his face, and she calmly nodded in return before bringing herself back to looking through the scope of the sniper rifle.

They had grown so much after the Boss had recruited them in Stilwater; they weren't small-time gangbangers anymore, they were smart powerful criminals that had a lengthy reputation in the criminal underworld. The Boss should have felt safe as these were the two people he could trust with his life, but he still felt anxious.

He looked through the binoculars and kept his eyes fixated on the warehouse, and observed the auction through a window. Quiver was standing in front of a considerably large group of people, whom all ranged in terms of appearances. Some were the young and naïve drug dealers that wanted an extra boost in protection for their deals, others were intimidating thugs in suits that actually thought that they were something to be scared of, and a few looked like ex-convicts that were trying not to attract attention by wearing tracksuit pants and baggy t-shirts. Then the Boss saw someone he didn't expect to see sitting next to Quiver.

It was a kid, a freaking kid, sitting inbetween Quiver and a pile of military missiles that were pressed against a wall.

"What the fuck?" The Boss bellowed, Pierce and Shaundi darted their eyes over to him, but he did not return the stare. "Why is there a fucking kid there? The fuck would Quiver want with a ten year old?"

"It doesn't matter." Pierce said with great confidence. "He ain't the target; we'll take out Quiver and then move in on the warehouse…"

"No, no, no…This isn't right…" The Boss decided, he dropped the binoculars onto the ground carelessly and brought out his phone, and began calling Oleg.

"Oleg, change of plan; we're not storming the warehouse. There's a kid there, and I don't want that blood on our hands…We'll move to the east perimeter, find a way to take out the target with as little bloodshed and chaos as possible. Sit tight and keep an eye out."

"Affirmative." The former Soviet replied. That's what the Boss liked about Oleg; he never questioned his leader's motives or actions, and always did whatever the Boss asked of him.

The Boss ended the call and told Pierce and Shaundi to follow him across the rooftops so that they could get a better view of Quiver. Before they could even respond, he was already leaping across the buildings, and his two second in commands had no choice but to follow him. Pierce followed him gladly as he copied the Boss's movements in response, but Shaundi was growing agitated as she hurled the rifle across the rooftops, and then herself afterwards.

They stopped jumping across the rooftops after they found the Boss looking across the street at the warehouse. Now they were on a Forgive and Forget drive-thru, and no longer needed binoculars to look through the windows as it was easy, even for Pierce's awful eye-sight.

"OK, if we hit him from here, the kid won't get hit and will have plenty of time to get the fuck outta there…" The Boss decided, he turned to Shaundi who sat alongside him with her sniper rifle firmly sat, pointing towards the warehouse.

"Shaundi, let's go."

"Alright, about fucking time!"

Shaundi looked back through the scope of the sniper rifle and placed her finger on the cold rusty trigger, and the Boss and Pierce sat with their hearts beating at a too fast pace, waiting for their torture to end. Shaundi let out a cold breath of air, licked the small birthmark scar on her upper lip, and allowed her elegantly shaped cheeks to blush with happiness. She was finally having _her_ reward.

The Boss kept his eyes closed as he tried to keep his heart beating at its normal pace; he thought he was going to have a heart attack with the amount of worry in his eyes. He thought about _Johnny_ to calm himself down.

He thought of the day he stopped his appeal trial, exchanging a fist bump after they killed the judge with a shotgun pellet into the kidneys and how Johnny let out a cry of laughter when the Boss told him that their day had come. He remembered the two of them escaping the court in a police car, the siren blazing in their ears, the sensation of running over cops with the car, and the feeling of sitting next to his best friend for the first time after five years.

It was bliss.

"Boss! Something's wrong! They're all leaving the warehouse!"

"What?"

"They're leaving the warehouse!" Shaundi roared, she held her rifle in her hands as jumped across the rooftops once more, whilst Pierce joined her as the Boss looked to the warehouse.

There was a horde of the weapon buyers running out of the front entrance of the warehouse, all heading straight for their cars and trucks. The trio stopped running when they landed on the roof of a Friendly Fire Gun store, and they looked across the warehouse which was now further away from them.

The Boss brought out his own sniper rifle, and before Shaundi could look through the scope of her own rifle, the Boss looked through his and told his crew what he could see. He saw Quiver standing alone in the warehouse with the pile of missiles, EMP grenades, and the same child from before. The Boss was about to fire a shot at his legs so that he was still alive for Shaundi to finish him off, but something else caught his eye.

"Shaundi, hold your fire, there's some more people there!"

"It's Edgar, the fucking bastard!" Shaundi screamed, she threw her rifle next to her heels on the roof as Pierce looked on with concern, as he had never met either of the two men his friends were pissed about, and had no idea how to handle the situation. Except for his usual idea; shoot first, ask questions later.

The Boss looked back into his sniper rifle and gazed at what he could see in the warehouse. Edgar and Quiver were shaking hands whilst observing the missiles, and after a long talk, Edgar turned to the child who had his back perched against the wall. He stroked his hair arrogantly which caused the child to flinch, infuriating Edgar enough to strike him directly in the face with the brunt of his left knee. From what the Boss could see, it was strong enough to cause the boy to start _bleeding_.

"Fucking sick bastard…" The Boss muttered, Shaundi nodded in response as she picked up her rifle and looked through the scope, and her disgust at her kidnapper was evident. Pierce sat quietly behind them, clutching his phone tightly in-case the plan went wrong, as he began to fear that judging from the Boss's surprise, Edgar wasn't expected to be in Stalicoast.

As Edgar finished beating the child, he turned his attention to the backdoor, where a hooded man could be seen walking in, alongside another man. The second man was no stranger to the Boss; it was the assassin from the Gangstas In Space Premier, the Boss knew it was him as he wore the same timeworn brown trench coat, but surprisingly, the other man was also no stranger to the Boss. He wore a purple hoodie that covered most of face, and also had bandages around his large paws that were supposed to be his hands, and stood in an intimidating position.

"Is that who I fucking think it is!?" Shaundi yelled, she tried to take a breath and couldn't, then tried to blink and couldn't.

"It is…" The Boss concluded. The moment felt surreal, absurd; it had knocked the breath out of the Boss and brought the world around him to a standstill. His face was burning.

His name rose from the deep and the Boss did not want to say it, as if uttering it might give Shaundi reason enough to run down to the warehouse and burn it to the ground. But it was him. He was already there, in the flesh, standing with the enemy across the street, after all this time.

His name escaped the Boss's lips: "_Angel_."

"You gotta be fucking kidding me!" Pierce exclaimed, the revelation was enough for him to end the night once and for all by calling Oleg to move in to take out Edgar and Quiver. He had told Oleg on the phone to let Angel live, so that they could discover why he was there, with Edgar of all people.

"Wait!" The Boss pleaded, his lips had gone dry and he tried to lick them but found that his tongue had dried too. A sip of alcohol would not have made him feel any better though, as the betrayal had already revealed itself. Pierce reluctantly told Oleg on the phone to hold his position.

Through the scope of the sniper rifle, the Boss saw two more men entering the warehouse. Two men in an army uniform with red bandanas, obviously two of Edgar's goons. The Boss realised that they were dragging another man into the warehouse, who, after noticing the bright green suit he was wearing, was also no stranger to the Saints.

Eddie _"Killbane"_ Pryor. The Walking Apocalypse, the man that had fallen from grace after he lost his mask in the ring to the Butcherer of Stilwater, and was driven out of town by the Third Street Saints.

"Killbane…The fuck is going on?" The Boss sighed; he grew even more confused by the minute, and began fidgeting on the rooftop. All of a sudden, it felt too hot; sweat was pouring down his white tank top, and he felt as though he was being held against his will in a sauna, instead of sitting on a rooftop in the cold dark night.

The two goons dropped Pryor to the ground, and judging from the state he was in, he had received the beating he should have endured from Angel long ago. He had bloodstains all over his suit, hand marks across his neck, and his face was now shapeless. Before, every part of his body was defined, sculpted in strength by him, but now, he just looked broken.

He looked tired, beaten, and desperate for death. From what the Boss saw, he did not say anything to his kidnappers, whether or not it was because he physically couldn't or was just too tired remained to be seen. But one thing was for certain.

This was not the Eddie Pryor that the Boss had fought months ago in Steelport. This was a twisted shell of a man, begging for salvation.

Angel stood in front of Pryor, and brought out a pocket knife, and after accepting a nod from Edgar, he began slashing away at the man's face. He struck with great fury over and over, and his hood fell down to reveal his face, his face that was hidden away by his mask. The mask used to have impressive stitching, and eye-catching purple and golden colours, but now there was nothing but ash and dust on it.

But as Angel moved, as he finally felt peace after so many years, the dust and ash fell off the mask, and the once bright colours had returned on the mask. The Boss however, saw no difference, as the damage was already done on the mask, and he could not look at it without remembering the state it was once in.

The Boss looked to Angel as if he was an insane butcher, slicing and cutting away at a piece of meat. The animal was already dead, and did not need to be tortured anymore, but the butcher found solace in making his job a pleasure.

Angel nearly lost the blade of the knife in a small river of blood that oozed out of Pryor's nose, and gashed the former wrestler's neck with nothing but brute force. Brute force that was strong enough for Angel to snap the metal part of the knife, and the blade was stuck in-between the bones of Pryor's neck. No matter how many times Angel tried to claw away the bones, it would not budge, and it was only until Edgar touched him on the shoulder that Angel gave up.

"He's dead," The Boss uttered. "He's _finally_ dead, and I didn't help Angel kill him…"

"It doesn't matter!" Shaundi objected. "We have to kill Quiver and Edgar! NOW!"

"But-" The Boss tried to beg with his friends, but they had enough of waiting, and within seconds, Pierce had made the call to Oleg to end the night once and for all.

The trio looked out across the warehouse as they saw a large horde of Saint Reinforcements storm the front entrance of the warehouse, but to their horror, they saw the Saints engulfed in a blast of smoke, and realised that it was a setup. Edgar had known the Saints were going to attack. Of course he knew, he seemingly knew the Boss better than anybody.

"Oleg, it's an ambush!" Pierce wailed, he tried to warn his friend over the phone as he watched countless young Saints have their limbs blown apart within seconds. The Russian however, made no response.

A fleet of helicopters emerged out of the foggy clouds, and blew away the smoke which sparked the Boss's attention. Shaundi and Pierce then jumped down onto the streets as the Boss followed them, and they ran through the alleys with their guns, hoping to find a car to escape.

"What about Oleg?" Pierce questioned, he had drawn out an SMG with a suppressor on the end and was struggling to keep up with his friends, as his legs were stiff and numb. He almost tripped over the pavement.

"We'll send the Backup Squad after him!" The Boss decided, despite the splitting headache he was getting, he was still strong enough to think ahead and bring out the backup plan.

The trio made their way to the end of the alleyway but the helicopters were still flying over the area, and so the Saints had to hide behind a large bin to the back of a Planet Saints store. Thankfully, the helicopters chose to fly away towards the warehouse, seemingly to save Edgar before anymore Saints could get to him, and the three Saints ran onto the road.

An army jeep sped in front of them, and Shaundi quickly took out the driver and two soldiers with her AK-47, but the other passenger caught her attention before she killed him. It was Quiver, trying to escape from the area as quickly as possible like the spineless coward whilst the attention was drawn onto Edgar.

The Boss let out a deep sigh of relieve and told Shaundi and Pierce to knock him out, which they did happily and quickly, as the middle-aged businessman begged them to leave him be.

"Pierce, take the wheel and head east of here, we should be able to find an empty apartment to hide in or something around here. "

"Got it Boss." Pierce replied, he pushed the dead driver onto the ground and took his seat, then began wiping the bloodstains off the steering wheel.

"Shaundi," The Boss began, but before he continued he rushed over to her and held her arm back. She was about to strangle Quiver to death in his sleep, but her leader did not want him to die so early.

"You gotta be fucking kidding me! Why the fuck do you want this slimy bastard to live another fucking second!?" Shaundi protested, she headbutted the Boss onto the ground, and placed her hands onto Quiver's flabby neck again, and began to push her hands down until she could hear the _bone_ snap.

"We need him alive!" The Boss roared. "We'll set up a prisoner exchange-Him and Oleg! We'll find a way to signal Edgar, and have him send over Oleg in exchange for Quiver!"

"Oleg doesn't need saving, he's a fucking tank!" Shaundi protested, but it was not her decision to make.

"We look out for our friends Shaundi! No _one_ gets left behind! Now stay the fuck away from Quiver!"

Shaundi reluctantly complied with the Boss's demands, and sat next to the unconscious businessman, watching him struggle to breath. She sat like a predator in the wild, watching her prey and waiting for the perfect moment to strike, to move in for the kill and have her desired meal. Only she was never going to move in for the kill, as long as they had other priorities.

"Angel…What the fuck have you done?" The Boss muttered, he was still in deep shock over the betrayal of his friend, and sat thinking of what he could have done weeks ago.

He thought of what would have happened today if he had found Killbane, if he had given Angel the pleasure in killing Killbane himself, but he didn't.

Once again, he had _failed_ the Saints.


	11. Chapter 11: Our Irreplaceable Soldier

**This was by far, the hardest chapter I have written so far. I've revised this chapter over and over for the past week, and it was really hard to write. Again, it's another chapter that'll change the plotline greatly, and I hope you all enjoy it.**

**I've been trying to improve my writing style by reading some of the Saints Row stories in the archive like Forever A Saint (Which BTW is amazing and is a must read) and have made some changes in my narrative style. As we follow the story with the Boss, we will now also follow the story with Johnny in some parts, so I hope you all enjoy that.**

**Leave a review at the bottom and I hope you enjoy!**

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A few hours passed after the Boss and Shaundi were reunited with Tommy Quiver, and after a long drive throughout the streets of Hampton Heights, the Saints reached the safe-house that Kinzie had told them to head to as a backup to the original plan; the Boss had asked for one as he knew that there was far too much at stake. Far too much to lose to someone like Edgar in a strange city like Stalicoast.

The trio had set up a base inside the small apartment close to the coast of the island, and the Boss and Shaundi were planning how they would escape the city, after they rescued their friend Oleg of course. It was Pierce's turn to patrol the area, to make sure that none of Edgar's men were close to discovering where the Saints were hiding, but strangely, Pierce was taking longer than he usually agreed for his shift.

It was not like Pierce to willingly risk his life when it wasn't needed, and especially when there were others who were prepared to step in for him. The Boss however, dismissed this thought, as Pierce wasn't his main concern right now; it was Shaundi.

"Give me the knife Shaundi!" The Boss demanded, Quiver was tied to a chair and had accepted defeat at the hands of the Saints, but Shaundi didn't care, as she still wanted her revenge, and held a knife firmly against Quiver's doubled-chin.

"No Boss! We have to end this today!" Shaundi protested, the Boss was trying to circle around her but she kept moving in the opposite direction around Quiver, and as their arguing grew louder, the Skipper had finally woken up.

"Stop! Help me!" Quiver quickly grew frantic as the first sight his eyes were laid on was the light sharp knife already piercing his skin, and his fear only gave Shaundi more of a reason to kill him once and for all. "This is not the deal…I should be on a helicopter now, heading back to the headquarters…"

"Then tell us where your friend will be…And we'll let you go…" The Boss suggested, he had managed to push Shaundi away from the chair and took the knife away from her, then decided to try and interrogate Quiver. He was the only person in that room who actually believed Quiver would give a straight answer.

"My only bargaining chip, and you think, I'll just hand it over and let you take control?" Quiver mocked, he began to laugh until Shaundi lunged herself at him and began trying to squeeze both of his eyeballs with her thumbs. The Boss managed to shake her off, eventually, though the blood pouring out of Quiver's left eye-socket showed that the damage was still done. But in Shaundi's eyes, it wasn't _enough_, even though she was the one with better eye-sight now.

The Boss grew tired with Quiver's arrogance towards him, and kicked the chair onto the floor near the wall, and told Shaundi to sit on the couch and to stay away from him. She agreed, reluctantly. He brought out his phone and began calling Kinzie, hoping that she would be able to help them through the situation.

"Kinz, it's me."

"Where the hell have you been? What's happened?" Kinzie began; she had been worried throughout the entire night over Oleg and her friends, but little did she realise that the next conversation she was going to have with her faithful leader would devastate her.

"Shit happened Kinzie, everything fucked over…There was more to the weapons deal than we were led to believe by your intel, Killbane is now dead and Angel is allied with Winslow. We've lost contact with Oleg, and we're hoping to set up a prisoner exchange with Quiver for Oleg." The Boss replied, there was a long five minute silence after he ended the explanation, then Kinzie finally returned after calming herself down.

"Then we'll have to send in reinforcements-Wait twenty mintues and I'll send Viola and Farid to your location-You'll be able to storm the whole island-And-" Kinzie tried to decide, but she was growing even more anxious at the minute and wasn't thinking as logical as she normally did. The Boss cut her off and explained further what he needed from her.

"If we send in reinforcements, we'll alert all of Edgar's men and the boys will all be fresh meat for Edgar…Oleg is his hostage as well Kinzie, we cannot give him the heads up to kill anyone; we've got to this our way." The Boss interrupted, in the background, Quiver snickered at his planning, infuriating the Boss enough to spit on his face whilst holding the phone.

"You're right…" Kinzie whimpered, the tone of her voice dropped and the Boss began to hear the sensitive side of her speak out for the first time. She was always slightly head strung and dedicated to assisting the Saints with her intellect and technological skills; now she was lost and concerned deeply for her friends, and had no idea how to save them.

That was the quality she respected the most in the Boss; no matter what situation he landed the gang in, he'd always find a way out, and would never let her down. _Always_.

"There is one thing you could do that'll save us a few bullets though; send one of our boys over in a plane and sweep the whole island; pinpointing the enemy will be good for us and it'll help to tell where the best place for an evac will be." The Boss concluded, Shaundi sat amazed at his planning and both ladies were relieved when, despite the situation the Boss and Shaundi were in, the leader still knew how to move forward.

"Got it, dispatching a few members from the northern island now. They're running off, into the plane, willingly risking their life, for Oleg's…I-I can never understand this…" Kinzie started, she seemed more confident in the Boss but was still lost in her own thoughts. "I can never understand how every day, we can let more and more Saints run off to fight for us when they could just die in the blink of a second…"

"They're soldiers Kinzie, brave trustworthy soldiers that deserve everything they fight for. Oleg is no different in heart, but he puts more on the line then the rest, and that's why we respect him more-" The Boss tried to help Kinzie understand his view on the risks each of his friends pay every day for the gang, for him.

"-I know that, and that's the problem…All he cares about is protecting us. Me. You. The Saints. Everywhere he goes; he's either fighting for us, or enjoying himself with us. I thought, having a baby together, it would change the part of him that would put everyone else first before himself…So that he would have a reason to want to make sure he'd live the next day, instead of willingly stepping in to save everyone…"

The Boss almost dropped the phone when he heard Kinzie's words, and he never thought for a moment about the damage Oleg's job in the Saints actually had on Kinzie. He fell onto the arm of the couch, and Shaundi looked on as he slid his arm onto the cushion on the chair. Quiver sat behind the two, amused at their suffering.

"I'm a couple of weeks pregnant, and trying to figure out what to do with the baby; what name to call it, what clothes to buy it, what school it'll go to, but Oleg; he never talks about it. I ask him what he wants more, a boy or a girl, but he just works his way out of the conversation and focuses his attention on the Saints, on you…"

"Kinzie, I give you my word that when the baby comes, when he stands in the operating room of the hospital…When he's holding the small fragile kid in his large paws, he'll be a different man. Completely. This is something he's never done before, maybe inside…He's scared. Terrified."

"The man who fought through Afghanistan and some parts of Russia, and managed to survive being tortured by Loren? None of that fazed him, and you think he'll be terrified of a baby?"

"It's something new, new for you both…He's never been a family guy before, I know I'd be pissing myself if I got told I was going to be a father…Give him time Kinzie, he'll come around."

"You can't ever be sure he'll come around…You think everything can be alright with time, don't you? Even with what happened to Tag, you still th-"

The Boss fell onto the rest of the couch, and Shaundi sat trying to push him back up, but struggled. Talking about Tag was a deep issue for the Boss, and Kinzie knew that he never wanted to bring up what had to be done for the poor clone; it both troubled the Boss and worried him.

"You know I didn't have a choice about that Kinzie…The guy was…Fucking lost! He needed it the most and nobody else was going to do it, were they? Had to be fucking _done_…" The Boss cried, he brought himself back up and sat straight on the chair, with Shaundi keeping her eyes firmly on the Boss.

"I'm sorry, it's just Oleg, I don't want that little asshole to kill him; I'll be doomed." Kinzie muttered, she had let out all of her rage onto the wrong man, and was trying to resume her role in the Saints again. She needed Oleg to change as a person, but he wasn't the only one who needed to change. Little did the former FBI agent know how much bringing a baby into the world would truly change her life. _Forever_.

"He won't Kinzie, you have my-" The Boss tried to plead, but a startling ringing drove through the Boss's ears, and he couldn't hear himself think. He searched across the room, and found the noise to be coming from Quiver's pants. Shaundi drove her hands into his pockets, and found a phone. The fat bastard had a phone on him, all this time, and didn't mention it.

"Little fat bitch…From this point on, you have to fucking TELL US, if you want to fucking breath!" Shaundi roared, she punched Quiver in his plump face and began trying to dislodge his jaw, until remembering the phone, then picked it up and handed it to the Boss.

"I guess this is the answer to our fucking problems…But this better not be bugged with a fucking tracker system you piece of shit!" The Boss settled, he looked at the name of the number on Quiver's phone, and found that it was the Boss's new favourite person in the whole world; Edgar.

"Listen up bitch, you may have one of my guys, but I've got your moneybags right in front of me, and if you want him to live, you'll do exactly as I say…Head to the Abandoned Storefront east of here, and come with nobody else but Oleg…If you don't do any of this, you'll be seeing a fat little dead man floating in the fucking ocean…See you soon, bitch."

…

**20 Minutes Earlier**

Hours had passed after the Saints had tried to ambush Edgar Winslow and Tommy Quiver in the weapons deal, but Edgar was able to predict what the Butcherer would try to do next, as in a way, he planned for the Boss to find him in Stalicoast. It wasn't because he wanted to be killed or wanted the attention; somehow, Saint Lieutenant Kinzie Kensington discovered Edgar's weapons auction in the warehouse and had tried to kill him, and it was all because one person told them.

It was _obvious_ to the soldier who this man was.

A horde of Saints had tried to invade the warehouse, but to their horror, explosives were planted in preparation for their attack, and Edgar managed to slip away once more. He ran out of the warehouse through one of the backdoors with Angel and his assassin, whilst Quiver simply cowered in the warehouse and tried to find his own way to escape Shaundi's wrath.

The trio ran out of the back of the warehouse and stood on the main road of the street, and Edgar looked down where he saw the Butcherer of Stilwater, in the distance, running into an alleyway.

"Not this time Butcherer, but very soon, you will suffer once more. Every man has a weakness, and yours is already in _my_ pocket." Edgar mumbled to himself, he was tempted to chase the Boss down the street and fight with him once and for all, but he knew he had to bide his time, and calculate his next course of action.

"What happens now?" Angel asked, his motives were now unclear as the main objective of his life since leaving the Luchadores was now completed; kill Killbane. Most men would be lost in trying to refill the empty void in their life, but Angel knew it would fill easily, and was a man who could move on from anything in life.

"Now, we tie up loose ends. Your former leader could not give you what you wanted, but I could, and did. You and Killbane led the Luchadores, trained the young boys into respectable fighters and helped them stand on their own two feet…Until Killbane took _advantage_ of their naivety. Perhaps now, you may lead a part of my organisation, and teach my young soldiers morality and what they should be fighting for; themselves." Edgar replied, each of his words struck Angel with surprise, and the wrestler stood with an astonished look underneath his mask at Edgar; he realised that he wasn't a gangster that wanted power and control, he wanted respect and to change the people of his country forever.

"I will, though just because you handed me Killbane, doesn't mean I fully trust you yet. I want to know that you will be loyal." Angel replied, he was already convinced to join Edgar, but he need to hear Edgar tell him that he will not try to kill him. Edgar's assassin stood silent behind his leader, his feet tapping on the ground suggested to Angel that he was bored. Edgar however, paid _no_ attention.

"You have my word Angel; I will lead you into battle and fight alongside you into battle, just like with all of my other soldiers." Edgar placed his hands on Angel's shoulders and gave him a calm nod, then looked towards the other direction of the street he was on, and saw a few faint figures approaching him.

"Now it is time for you to see who you will be leading. Razor, introduce Angel to the others and take him onto one of the helicopters that will be coming down soon."

Razor looked to his leader and nodded, then turned his attention to his new boss and told him to follow him down the street, almost with an aggressive and jealous tone. Edgar smirked as he knew how much it pained Razor to let someone else run his gang, but it was necessary as Razor did not have the qualities of a true leader. In some ways, Razor reminded Edgar of Johnny Gat.

Razor and Angel disappeared into the distance as they walked past two men, and within seconds some of the helicopters landed behind a group of skyscrapers and warehouses, seemingly for Razor and Angel. One of Edgar's right hands shook his hand as they met each other after so long, whilst Johnny stood with his arms crossed, showing his resentment for his new boss.

"Han, will your men be ready to sweep the island?" Edgar asked, the Chinese warlord looked to him with a grin on his face as he placed a cigarette in-between his crusty ragged lips, and drew out a phone from his leather black pants.

"Is that even a question? The Golden Dragons will always be ready for war; as soon as I give the order, they'll burn the island to the ground…" Han replied, Johnny looked at the Chinese commander with disgust in his face, not only was this man going to burn hundreds of innocent people on the island to death, just to find the Saints, but he was also going to do it _just_ for Edgar's approval.

"You won't find them…They'll be long gone by now." Gat sneered; he unfolded his arms and focused his attention on Edgar, whilst Han rolled his eyes in disbelief.

Gat unzipped his dark red jacket and revealed the white tank top underneath, and judging from the unnecessary force he used to unzip the jacket, Edgar concluded that Johnny did not like the clothing he had given his new lieutenant.

"No, they'll still be here, hiding somewhere. You think you know your leader better than I do, but you are wrong. All he cares about is getting his own way and whether or not he is winning a fight; I have one of his men as a hostage, which will annoy him enough to try and strike back, in hope to try and change the tide…Fool."

"I'm not really a hostage Winslow; you let me walk freely wherever you go. I could run any minute I want, the only reason I'm still here to keep an eye on _you_, not the other way round."

"Of course…It is not because you are concerned of one of my other hostages; the young boy?" Johnny's face tightened with anger and the Saint was about to break the soldier's nose, but then stopped when he saw a helicopter landing in front of him, with more of Edgar's soldiers in that were heavily armed. It wasn't that he felt outnumbered or outgunned; he was concerned of Pierce's son.

"Ah, they are here…Good, the Dragons are here. Now, we can be-"

Before Edgar could finish his sentence, Johnny was relieved to listen to the asshole when his phone started to bleep, and after checking the number, he found that it was Quiver, who had strangely disappeared during the ambush. Before Edgar had the chance to ask him where he was, a familiar voice spoke on the other line;

"Listen up bitch, you may have one of my guys, but I've got your moneybags right in front of me, and if you want him to live, you'll do exactly as I say…Head to the Abandoned Storefront east of here, and come with nobody else but Oleg…If you don't do any of this, you'll be seeing a fat little dead man floating in the fucking ocean…See you soon, bitch."

The call ended, and Edgar placed the phone back into his pants pocket, then looked to Johnny with a smug look on his face, whilst the latter simply turned his back away and looked to the helicopter that had finally landed.

Two goons dressed with yellow shirts and black vests emerged, whilst pushing a young boy in front of them with the tips of their assault rifles. Johnny quickly ran to the boy and kept him away from the arrogant thugs. The boy still did not speak or let the gangster touch him, but allowed him to guide him away.

"It seems as though there will be a change in the schedule everyone…Chang, have your warriors overlook the Abandoned Storefront on the rooftops and set up explosives across the roads." Edgar turned his attention to Johnny, who stood in front of Pierce's son, trying to shield him from any surprise attack from Edgar.

"You two will get into that helicopter and head back to the headquarters-Your time will come soon, but not now…"

Chang walked away with the two goons into the gloomy night, whilst Johnny reluctantly entered the helicopter with the boy. He sat with his arm around the child's shoulders, whilst giving Edgar the middle finger.

No matter what situation he found himself in, Gat would never stop telling people what he really thought of them.

…

"Shaundi? Are you in position?" The Boss asked over the phone, he was standing in the parking lot of the Abandoned Storefront with Quiver, waiting for his enemies to reveal themselves.

"I'm moving to the roof of the north building-I've messaged Pierce, but he hasn't gotten back to me yet…Probably trying to keep a low profile and doesn't want to alert anyone nearby." Shaundi replied, the Boss began pacing when she did not answer his question. Quiver stood behind him, chuckling at him angrily.

"Great…Keep me updated, and if you see any of Edgar's goons, get the fuck outta before you're seen, or they'll kill Oleg."

"Got it."

The Boss let out a deep breath and shivered as the cold breeze from the coastline hit him in the face. For the first time in months, he took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it, then blew out a puff of smoke directly into Quiver's face, causing him to cough until his throat couldn't take it.

"It didn't have to be like this Quiver…Sure you would still be working for Quiver and we would have killed you eventually, but now we're gonna have to break your fucking mind 'cause of what you did to Shaundi…" The Boss muttered, he glared at Quiver who appeared more nervous than the Boss, but despite this, his arrogance did not fade in the face of fear.

"'What I did'? Can't even say it can you? _'Rape'_. I did it, because Eddie owed me big time and that was just one helluva present to pay me back. You won't have a chance to kill me; after this, I'm running, running straight back home where you'll never find me. Then I'll return, return for Shaundi, and there won't be anything you can do about it…"

The Boss drew out his pistol and smacked him in the nose with the bottom of his gun, and as the fat businessman fell to the ground, he began kicking him aggressively, and started to lose his touch on reality.

"You don't even care do you?" The Boss roared, Quiver was getting to him, and he was forgetting the plan. "She was in fucking pieces you bastard, she's lucky to still be alive! That shit is never gonna happen again…"

"Oh…It will, and you won't be able to stop it next time."

Before the Boss had a chance to strike him again, the sounds of footsteps caught his attention, and he grabbed Quiver from the ground tightly to his chest, holding the pistol to his head, and watched as Edgar emerged out of the darkness, with Oleg.

The Russian Saint looked dreadful; there were bloodstains all over his clothes, burn scars on his face and a few bullet holes in his shoes. Oleg also had his hands tied, but with more rope than Quiver, and Edgar had a shotgun trained on his stomach. His eyes looked down towards the Boss, and for a moment, they looked happy, relieved even, but then they fell further down towards the ground, almost as a sign of defeat.

"I knew I would see you soon…Are you not delighted to see me Butcherer?"

"Fuck off Edgar, I don't give a fuck what you think right now, just hand over Oleg and I'll hand over this fat little bastard…"

"And let you gain the upper-hand on me? No, you hand over Quiver, then I'll hand over this…Monster…Although, I already have gained the upper-hand over you…Do you not realise Butcherer? There is a…_Traitor_, in your midst, and you do not even realise…"

The Boss stood in shock at his words, and for a brief moment, he actually thought his skin was starting to crack in his nemesis's face, like a broken mirror spelling out years of nothing but bad luck. At first, he thought Edgar was referring to Angel, but if Edgar had prepared for his ambush, someone else must have been the traitor and warned him of the plan. Despite this however, the Boss was able to keep his attention to the matter at hand, and towards his well-valued lieutenant.

"Shut the fuck up Winslow! Now hand over Oleg!"

The two gang leaders grew aggressive at each other as they tried to control the situation more than the other, until Oleg spoke out, which was reason enough for the Boss to be silent.

"Calm down, both of you…We'll both walk over at the same time, untouched by each opposing side, and leave quickly without any signs of violence. Understand?"

"Deal…And I thought you were nothing more than an oversized thug. Go then, before I change my mind and kill you." Edgar replied, he seemed unwilling to let Oleg go free, but knew that it was a compromise he had to pay if he wanted Quiver away from the Saints. He knew far too much of Edgar's plans, and defeat would have come quicker if the Butcherer still had control of him.

The two hostages began walking towards the opposite side, with Quiver slightly jogging in fear towards Edgar, and Oleg limping slightly towards the Boss. Quiver reached Edgar before Oleg could reach the Boss, and Edgar raised his arms in the air for the Golden Dragons to rain fire on the Saints. His calculations were once again exact; if Quiver had already been killed by the Boss, he could have took the Butcherer out there and then, but if he hadn't, then the Boss would have been even more weak and vulnerable to hurt.

"Shit! Oleg! Get here now and I'll get you out of here! Hurry!" The Boss began shouting over the shoots of the machine guns, but Oleg did not respond, which the Boss quickly assumed was because he could not hear him. He ran towards the 'Russian Superman' to try and help him. He took a few bullets to the shoulder, but brushed them off quickly and tried to help Oleg walk forward but struggled due to his superior height and weight.

"No Boss…It is too late. Leave me…Get out of here now before you are killed…"

"Don't be stupid Oleg! We're in this together! You're a father now, I have to get you out of here!"

"A father…It is, a blessing finally, after all these years of _pain and torment_…I would never become the ordinary family figure-like father the child would need; it is best that Kinzie moves on and finds someone suitable for them…All those years of teaching the child, how to ride a bike, how to read and write, how to handle a shotgun…No, it is not for me. Kinzie will be a natural mother…

But you, despite my failure, you still want to help me?"

"You're my friend Oleg, and I'm not leaving you! You didn't fail me-You've never failed me! I failed you, now come on, we have to get out of here!"

Tears began to roll down his face as he tried to shield his leader from the bullets, whom tried to tuck at his suit jacket to bring him forward. Was he really crying? Crying for his family? Crying for his Boss?

"_You are…An unforgettable, and irreplaceable friend…I have learnt, so much from you, and none of it has ever been wasted…Give my love to Kinzie, tell her of my sacrifice and to never forget my love…And please Boss…don't ever change…"_

"Oleg!"

Oleg tore off his suit jacket with his fists, and the bullets started to fly on the former KGB member. The Boss fell onto the ground, looking up in amazement at his friend, who was brushing off the bullets and not giving the goons any satisfaction of defeat. A true fucking legend for the Third Street Saints. The Boss looked towards his purple sweater, and after noticing a flashing red mark, he realised what Oleg was trying to achieve.

He must have had an explosive with him all this time, and was planning to give the ultimate sacrifice for the Saints. For Kinzie and his son. For the Boss. Before the Boss had the chance to claw it away, Oleg began charging towards Edgar and Quiver who were trying to sneak away in the confusion of the attack, but a few pellets from Edgar's shotgun stunned Oleg as blood dripped from his knee, but this did not keep him down. It could not keep him down.

"You cannot defeat me! I will fall, but only by my allowance, and not by you! Do you know who I am? I am a fucking fa-"

Before he could finish his sendiment, the Boss felt something grabbing onto both of his shoulders, and pulling him away from the area, as Oleg grew smaller and smaller into the distance. The noises of the machine guns still blazed in the Boss's ears, but he had finally lost his senses as the moment became even more surreal. He struggled to keep himself awake, and as he began to close his eyes, he thought of Oleg. Just Oleg. Thought of the last words he had said to him. Kinzie was right; he was more devoted to the Saints than he was to his family. It pained him.

It pained him more than the fiery explosion that had knocked him out. Thankfully he couldn't think or he would have realised what had caused the explosion.

Oleg Kirrlov always had his back, from the day he saved his life in Syndicate Tower to the day he died. There was nothing more that he wanted to do now in his life; he had friends, good friends that knew about his past, but still respected him for it. One even loved him with that knowledge, and was going to have a child with him. But he took the sacrifice. The sacrifice that would help the rest of the Saints survive the war they would have, with Edgar.

He took that burden to the grave. Gladly. Like the irreplaceable soldier he was.

…

"Boss! Wake up! I'm begging you man! Wake up!"

The Boss could hear a familiar voice shouting at him, then when the man started slapping him in the face, he remembered his name and whispered it in his face. _Pierce Washington_. He must have found the Boss, saved him from Edgar, he must have been planning that all along.

The Boss found that he was being dragged to a landing helicopter by Pierce and Shaundi, and they carefully lay him into the back on one of the chairs, in front of the one person he did not want to talk right now.

"Where is he? WHERE'S OLEG?"

"Kinzie…There's something he wanted me to tell you…"

The flight back to Stilwater was a long and painful one, and there was never a moment in which Kinzie didn't let the waterfalls rain down her face. Would anything have changed if the Boss had said something different? Yes. If the Boss had told her the truth, if he had told her what Oleg had actually said, she would have thrown him out of the helicopter, and shot him to death herself. She was right all along; Oleg was more devoted to the Saints than he was to his family, but she didn't need to know the truth. She needed the lie, and only the Boss could have given her that. One day she could hate him all she wanted, but for now, she needed to be strong, strong for what was about to come.

As Shaundi rested her head on Pierce's shoulder in the passenger seats, each of them with their own silent tears, Kinzie rested her head onto the Boss's shoulders, tired of where her life was going. She was feeling many types of pain inside of her, but one feeling, one sensation caused her to jump.

"I…I think it just…_Kicked_."

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**I was aiming to try and make at least one person cry for Oleg and Kinzie at the end of this chapter; really hoped :D Please, please leave a review as that's what I'm loving the most. Chapter 12 will be up soon and I'll be sure to review your stories if you'll be reviewing mine!**


	12. Chapter 12: The Chain Of Command

**I've read a few more stories and made a couple more reviews, and from now on, I am going to make some serious changes to the storyline and chapter system. There will be less descriptions, more dialogue, and no more "Build Up" chapters. I'm just going to keep this story fast paced, write a few emotional scenes, and keep the story going. **

**I've wrote a plan for this story, and it looks at though they'll probably be about thirty chapters or so for the whole thing :D This chapter actually just finishes the prologue for the story so...Yeah; this'll be a long story everyone! Enjoy the story and be sure to leave a review!**

* * *

Once the four Saints returned to Stilwater, they headed straight for Purgatory to recover from their wounds and to meet the rest of the Saints to tell them what had happened. The only lieutenant that was at the Stilwater Headquarters in the night was Jenny, who had fallen asleep in the Boss's bed, after trying to stay up all night to surprise him; surprise him with a night of passion that she believed he desperately needed.

"So what do we do now?" Kinzie asked, she had stopped crying but her throat was still pretty dry and sore.

"We'll wait for the others, then I'll say a few words…For both Oleg and Edgar." The Boss replied, the four were standing in the Boss's office deciding what to do, but only the Boss could decide as the rest of the crew were seriously traumatised at the events of the night.

"I'll text the lot of 'em, I'll say to meet here tomorrow morning; that should give them enough time." Pierce mumbled, he threw his suit jacket onto the floor and walked out of the office and straight downstairs to the bar, to drown his sorrows.

The Boss watched Pierce leave the room with his hands in his pockets, then to Shaundi who walked to her bedroom in the underground hotel, and finally to Kinzie who was trying to follow Pierce to the bar.

"You're gonna be a mother remember? That shit won't be good for the kid." The Boss pleaded, he grabbed her on the shoulder but she turned back to him and yanked the shoulder away, then swung her blonde ponytail into the Boss's face, and stomped away.

"Not getting away _that_ easy Kinz…That kid's not gonna suffer just 'cause you wanted some shots…"

The Boss ran down the stairs and saw Pierce behind the bar, chugging bottles of alcohol all in one as Kinzie sat on a stool in front of him, waiting for him to pour her a drink. When he turned his back to her, Kinzie took the bottle for herself and was about to swig what was left of it, until the Boss took it out of her hands and threw it onto the ground.

"This isn't the answer!" The Boss roared, he was being too harsh on his friends, but they needed the tough love.

"Screw you, what do you know?" Kinzie protested, she was incredibly tired and was trying to argue with the Boss as she started drifting off. She fell off her stool and the Boss grabbed her as Pierce looked on, but couldn't bring himself to say or do anything.

"You don't know the exact percentage of alcohol that affects babies…Yo-You don't know which types of alcohol a mother can and cannot drink…You didn't even know Oleg like _I did_."

Kinzie gave up her rant as the Boss carried her in his arms towards the couch from across the bar, and lay her down as she fell asleep. He looked to Pierce, who had already finished two whole bottles of vodka, and was drinking some of Shaundi's old tequila.

"Don't drink too much Pierce, it's not the answer, get some shut-eye soon right?"

"Whatever Boss…"

"'Sup with you? You're not normally _this_ glum after someone dies; when Gat got sent into hospital, you were asking for his Goddamn job!"

"I'm just…Tired. Remember what 'chu said before, 'bout all that family shit?"

"Yeah? What about it?"

"Maybe you _were_ right…Maybe it is time to get outta the game, with my head still above water…"

"Awesome man, just, hold on to that thought for the morning, and don't drink too much."

The Boss left Pierce in the bar and walked up to his bedroom, and noticed Shaundi in her room, drawing in her sketchbook again. The Boss didn't need to ask himself who she was drawing, judging by the aggression in the way she grinded the pencil into the paper.

He left her to fall asleep and went into his room, and lay against Jenny. She was warm and comfortable in his sheets, whilst he lay, cold and beaten, and glared at the light bulbs on the ceiling.

He watched a moth fly around the light bulb, and eventually after watching it fall to the ground after receiving an electric shock, the Boss fell asleep into a deep slumber.

The Boss hated sleeping; it meant that he had to dream about what he wanted or didn't want in life. Now wasn't the time to think about what he wanted; now was the time to get shit done, instead of nodding off next to his girlfriend.

**…**

The Boss woke up and felt a woman's hand stroking through his ragged hair, and judging from the perfume he could smell from her, it was Jenny. He was in no mood for romance, and only wanted to walk out and meet the rest of the crew, but once he started to move his right leg to get off the bed, Jenny wrapped both of her arms tightly around his neck, and rubbed her nose seductively into his cheek, then whispered into his left ear suggestively.

"We never get to be alone nowadays, but with the movie done, and with Shaundi back home, we should have all the time in the world…"

"…No we can't Jenny; some other shit's come up. Let's go downstairs, I'll brief everyone on what's happened."

The Boss managed to break free from Jenny's arms, and walked out of the room and down the stairs as he put on his purple vest, whilst Jenny lay on the bed, dressed in lingerie, disappointed with where her life was going.

All those years spent in acting college, dedicating herself to her work instead of partying every night and she now spends most of her life doing what she can for the Boss. But all the love she shows him, he hardly ever returns. She stopped frustrating herself, and put on a purple dressing gown, with her name in golden lettering at the top alongside a Fleur-De-Lis symbol.

The Boss looked around the main room of the Purgatory; Pierce was sprawled out by the doorway of the garage, still asleep from the night before, Shaundi was standing with Zimos and Viola, drinking coffee whilst Josh sat by the bar checking her out, and Kinzie was also still asleep on the couch.

Viola arrived by the elevator, and walked by the Boss with a greeting smile on her face, which he returned back. He followed her gladly down the stairs, whilst Jenny begrudgingly followed.

"Alright everyone, gather 'round cause I need to tell you all some serious shit…So recently, this guy called Edgar Winslow has been attacking the Saints; turns out he was the one who torched the Gangstas In Space Premier, he was the one who ambushed us at Freckle Bitches…And he was the one who killed Oleg."

Everyone stood in both silence and shook at the Boss's words, Viola sat on the arm of the couch surprised at how someone with strength like Oleg's could die just like that, whilst Zimos shook his head at the ground, then noticed Pierce and went to wake him up.

"As you know, we're not gonna let that shit lie. Edgar's setting up some big crew like the Syndicate, only this time he's got his eyes set on both Stilwater and Steelport, and also on this other city called Stalicoast. He's got one guy called Tommy Quiver running _The Prosperous Marines_ who are some rich fucks that are playing with military weapons, and then I heard talk of some other gang called _The Golden Dragons_…I don't know whose leading that. We need to hit 'em back hard, and do it like the muthafucking Saints we are!"

The lieutenants cheered with the Boss as he raised his fist in the air, and Josh took the moment too seriously by shooting his pistol towards the ceiling, causing everyone to glare at him. He then foolishly promised to have his butler write a check for the damage to the ceiling.

"So…What are we gonna do exactly?" Shaundi questioned, the Boss looked at her with his mouth open, ready to say something, then closed it and asked himself what he was going to do.

"Well…Kinzie was the one who got the intel on Edgar's weapon deal over in Stalicoast, maybe we could use the same lead?"

"It'll be tough, but I'll see what I can do…" Kinzie announced, as she woke herself up and the rest of the people in the room turned to her. They all stood awkwardly, not knowing what to do or what to say, but the Boss simply walked over to her, and helped her on her feet. Jenny's pout grew considerably_ larger_.

"Anyone got a laptop?" Kinzie asked, she looked around the room and noticed one of the recruits had left their laptop on one of the chairs by the garage, and went over to plug in a memory drive in the side.

"So Kinz…Wanna share what you're thinking?" The Boss asked, he and the rest of the Saints crowded around Kinzie who was sitting down on her laptop. She looked up to the crew and nearly jumped, as they had snuck up so closely to her without saying a word.

"The intel I got on the weapons deal wasn't exactly printed information…I was sent an email from an unknown contact that day who told me about it-"

"-Who?" Shaundi asked, she looked very intrigued in what Kinzie was saying, until Josh huddled closer to her and gave her a soft smirk, which she returned with an unimpressed sigh.

"I have no idea…No name, very generic email address with no initials, I tried tracking this person before but I couldn't decrypt their system, and I tried sending a Trojan to weaken their firewalls but they've set up some unusual sort of anti-spyware…So whoever it is, they don't want me to know too much."

The crew stood silently around her, with the Boss pacing around the room with his hands on the back of his head. Jenny observed him intently whilst the crew stood observing Kinzie's laptop.

"Hol' uuuup!" Zimos shouted, Kinzie moaned as he shouted closely behind her through his auto-tuner. "Whaaat da heil is dat?"

Zimos pointed to something on Kinzie's laptop, and after she clicked on the keyboard, a grin shined from her face. The Boss noticed and returned back to the laptop, with Jenny following him and wrapping her arm around his right arm. He paid her no response, and was too focused in his work to return the romance.

"It's a new email…From the same contact who supplied us for the weapon deal…He's saying that Edgar's got a shipment coming in by boat to Stilwater's docks…It sounds…_Important_."

"Alright, it's not much but it's a start, but we need to be cautious, it could just be Edgar trying to send us into another trap again…"

The Boss looked at his Saints and began deciding which ones to bring with him on the mission. Jenny stood with her arms on her hips and started coughing with her mouth closed. Viola shook her head at her, whilst Shaundi gave a small snicker at the two.

"Zimos, Viola, you're both with me, we'll storm the ship and take out as many assholes as we can. Shaundi, since Pierce is…Out of it, will you be able to bring yourself and a couple of boys in a helicopter when we give the word?"

"Of course." Shaundi replied, the Boss expected her to say a little more but it wasn't needed. Josh stood next to her and patted her on the back encouragingly, and then she pushed his arm away and brought out her phone to call for the recruits.

"Kinzie, do you have any tech that'll let us talk to each other without having to hold a mobile to our ears?"

"I'll get on to that Boss, should have some stuff in the Inner Sanctum to use. For now, we'll just have to make do."

"Fair enough. Alright, Zimos, Viola, let's go. And for fuck sake, somebody help _Pierce_…" The Boss concluded, he walked up the stairs as Zimos and Viola followed him, but before he could enter the elevator, Jenny confronted him.

"You're so concerned with assholes in other cities? You should be concerned with assholes in this city."

"What are you talking about Jenny?" The Boss quizzed, she smirked as he finally gave her the attention she absolutely _deserved_,and the three Saints stopped and listened to her. Kinzie and Shaundi had walked up the stairs and were behind Jenny.

"Do you know how the Saints are really doing here? Shit! Nobody wants to buy Saints Flow, or any merchandise for Gangstas In Space, or even the fucking _Johnny Gat_ bobbleheads!"

The Boss was stunned by this and turned to Viola, the gang's financial adviser and business supervisor.

"Is this true Vi?"

"With everything that's happening with Winslow, I didn't want to bring it up, but it is true. Stilwater's economy is going through an inflation, and if we don't move fast enough, it could turn into a hyperinflation."

The Boss looked at her, puzzled at what she was saying which caused both her and Kinzie to sigh. It was obvious that the Boss had dropped out of school to pursue the career of being a gangbanger.

"Inflation is when prices of products in a town or a city rise considerably high, which influences the majority of the public to stop buying the product at the same branch, or just stop buying it completely. The owner tries to lower the price significantly for the general public, but by that time, they have either gone somewhere else for the product or have simply _lost interest_." Viola informed, the Boss stood slowly understanding what this meant for the Saints.

"In other words, nobody wants to buy our _shit_ anymore…" Shaundi muttered, the Boss turned to her with a frown and began to question what this meant for the welfare of his gang.

"I guess we'll just have to go back to our old roots-Selling drugs, knock off DVDs and spraying graffiti over the whole damn city. When we're done with Edgar, we'll work on something that'll put us on the radar again-Give all these fuckers a reason to pay attention to us."

The crew nodded at his words and left the Purgatory with their previous orders, whilst Jenny stood waiting for the Boss to thank her for her help with the gang, but he simply stroked her hair and told her to keep an eye on the rest of the crew.

She walked back into the Purgatory, watching Pierce slowly get up from the ground, for yet _another_ drink from the bar.

**…**

**30 Minutes Later**

"The docks are in sight, we will prepare to stop by the Stilwater Docks in ten minutes." The Captain told Edgar Winslow, they stood in the bridge and watched The Prosperous Marines run around the decks of the ship, moving different types of weapons in different containers.

"Good Captain, but I have the strange feeling that we may not be reaching the shore _so soon_." Edgar replied, Tommy Quiver stood behind him, troubled by his words.

"What do you mean Eddie? The plan was to set up bases across Stilwater and use the weapons to rob all of the Saints properties right?"

"That was a small objective in the plan, but with recent events, it must be _scrapped_. The Saints will be waiting for us, and they'll steal our weapons and kill us all." Edgar replied, he then turned to frighten his associate, who was already in pieces at his words. "But for your actions, they'll kill you..._Brutally_."

"I knew I should have run when I had the chance…Fuck fuck fuck…"

"You had the choice Tommy; you could have took what you had and run for the nearest airport, or you could have stayed and have faith in me. You chose the right answer; don't think that a whore like that Saint Shaundi could touch you…That is, if you don't _want_ her to."

Quiver snickered at his words, and Edgar smiled at his immorality, then turned away and took out a phone from his pants pocket.

"Razor, how is everyone doing in the lower decks?"

"Progress is slow Boss, its taking time to move all of the weapons to a more secure location. We've loaded what we can onto lifeboats, but for all the bombs, explosives and the biochemical weapon…We're going to need some helicopters for that."

"What you cannot carry on the lifeboat you will carry in your pockets…Tell the men to carry the explosives with them and I'll sort something out for the biochemical weapon."

"You're not serious are you? That shit could go off anytime – It's bad enough we've put them on a freaking boat, let alone carrying them in _our pockets_."

"You seem to be forgetting who writes your paycheck Razor…Get back to work, I want everything moved in the next ten minutes sharp."

Razor begrudgingly ended the call and threw the mobile across the lower deck of the ship, which caught the attention of all of the workers. He glared at each one of them and threaten to make an example out of one with a gun, but before he could, they hurriedly returned to moving the containers onto the boats.

The dankness of the room and the smell of sweat building in the men's armpits was enough for Razor to leave the room, where he went to his quarters in the ship, and was met with two surprise visitors.

"What're you doing with that laptop Gat?"

"Just checking my fanbase Razor…"

Razor walked across the room to the desk where Johnny sat behind, with the young boy crouching on the floor behind the Saint, and yanked the laptop out of the wires. Razor checked through the laptop to see what Gat was really doing, and then turned to him with an agitated but grim look.

"…Shit. Better get outta here while I can…"

"No loyalty for your boss Razor?"

"Fuck off Gat, I'm hired muscle, and Winslow's made it fucking clear he doesn't want me in _too_ deep. With the look of this, the contract's terminated."

Razor dropped the laptop onto the floor and took his AR-55 rifle which was propped up next to the door, and swiped away his two signature razorblades from the table before Johnny had the chance to arm himself with the weapons.

He looked to Johnny with a disappointed look and then to the child behind him, lit a small cigarette and threw the lighter onto the floor. Johnny did not return the glance; his attention was too focused onto the screen of the laptop, and was reading the emails over and over.

"You two are..._Inseparable_…I just don't get it. Then again, I don't get why Winslow even keeps the damn kid around, so I guess I shouldn't really give a shit."

Razor ran out of the door, and the sounds of guns blazing could be heard as he stole one of the lifeboats, whilst Johnny kept the young boy down on the ground underneath the windows, protecting his friend's son from harm.

"I've been covering yo' ass for weeks, and you won't even say a Goddamn word…"

The young boy unsurprisingly made no reply, and covered his face with his arms whilst shaking in fear at the sound of gunshots. Gat quickly assumed it was because it reminded him of how his mother died, he could understand the pain of remembering how a loved one died.

"You know you can open up to shit to me kid…I know your father, he's a good guy; if he knew you were alive, he'd be busting his ass through this whole Goddamn ship just to get to you…Fuck…Just say _something_."

Johnny looked up through the window to say if it was safe for the two to finally escape from Edgar, but it wasn't, as more gunfire was heard, and gangsters dressed in purple could be seen. It was the Saints; they finally reached the ship and were going to once and for all take Edgar down and meet their lost friend again.

As Johnny chuckled at the sight of his leader shooting what remained of the workers, the young boy tucked at the sleeve of his red jacket, still scared from the gunshots.

"Ple-Please…No more. My name's Micah, just…I'm scared…And I want my mom, _and my dad_…"

"I can only show you to one of your parents Micah…Just hang on!"

Johnny stroked Micah's hair with enthusiasm to be reunited with his friends, and ran out of the room with Micah in his arms, and moved around the large containers. He stopped dead in his tracks when he heard more gunshots, and realised he was unarmed and was carrying a young, innocent boy that had been traumatised too much already. He peeked around the corner of one container to see his leader, standing tall with all of his might, with two new lieutenants.

He did not recognise the old pimp with the auto-tuner, but recognised the woman that was accompanying the Boss, and before he could _attack_ her in justified rage, Edgar appeared behind the Saints, walking down the catwalk from the doorway.

He was armed with a shotgun and had plenty of goons behind him also heavily armed, and before Johnny could run for better cover, the ship shuck violently against the waves, and one of the containers fell onto Gat. He managed to throw Micah out of the way just in time, but found his legs stuck underneath the weight of the large yellow container.

When he returned to his senses and looked around the room, he found that his friends had disappeared, along with Edgar, and only Micah was with him. The child tugged at his arms and pulled desperately at his arms to save him before more of Edgar's soldiers came to finish him off, but it was hopeless. He was starting to see visions of Aisha again, visions of a happier life if he just stopped _carrying on_, but he just couldn't let himself be happy; he had a fucking kid to take care of now.

Everything Johnny had hoped for was now gone; he had hoped that every single member of the Syndicate had been brutally killed by his leader in revenge, hoped that he would have been able to fight off Edgar, but they had both failed. _Badly_.

**…**

"We can't keep them off _forever_!" Viola shouted, the trio were on the upper deck of the ship being chased by Edgar and the Marines. "Take what you can-We gotta go!"

"Fuck it, I'll take these three containers-Then we'll go!"

"We can't hold them off that long!"

"Viola, I'm not liking your negativity here!" The Boss chuckled, Viola frowned as she unleashed the wrath of her SMG onto the highly trained and protected Marines, whilst Zimos stood alongside her, blindly shooting the remaining bullets of his sawn-off shotgun.

The Boss opened the first two containers and found a strange machine which appeared to have been some kind of _generator_; it was very large and impressive, and covered in plenty of dark crimson blood. The Boss decided that the machine looked too large for a helicopter to carry, so quickly drew out his phone to take photos of the strange machine.

In the other container, there was only a small pile of weapons that included different types of SMGS, Shotguns and Rocket Launchers. The Boss quickly dismissed this and grew annoyed at the lack of impressive weapons that Edgar actually had on the ship.

When he came to the final container however, he was more than interested. He could hear the sounds of knocking on the walls of the container from the inside, and could smell a disgusting stench emerging from the cracks within the front doors. The Boss opened the doors with the help of his shotgun, and was appalled to what he saw.

There were bodies everywhere, all sat perched together, rotting. Flies flew out in a frenzy towards the Boss which almost made him gargle vomit, but he could still hear someone calling for help. Seeing no other option, he walked over the corpses with his mouth and nose covered by his hands, and realised that they had been dead for weeks, especially since they had already started _decaying_.

He saw two people at the back of the container, a man and a woman, whom almost appeared to be dead themselves, until the Boss saw their eyes blink.

"Hey! Get us out of here! We know shit about the Consortium; give us protection and we'll help you out!" The man shouted, he was wearing some sort of business uniform however the tie was covered in saliva and small traces of vomit, and his pants were unbuckled and covered in faeces.

"If you have come all this way to steal from the Consortium, then you must be an enemy of Edgar Winslow-Help us escape and we will repay you with our lives!" The woman asserted, she appeared to be of Chinese heritage and wore a thick black leather zipped jacket with a balaclava in the pockets, and her brown clean, but rough, hair lay on her shoulders.

"The fuck? Consortium?" The Boss asked, he was confused, but the sounds of gunfire and Viola and Zimos shouting for help was enough for him to decide to help the two prisoners. "Fuck it, stay with us and grab a gun-You wanna live? Then you're gonna have to fight!"

"I've fought for my life for decades; you do not _need_ to worry for me." The woman declared, she ran out of the container and identified Viola and Zimos as the Boss's friends, and took an SMG from the other container and fired onto the waves of Marines.

The Saints and the Prisoners fought together against oncoming waves of the Prosperous Marines, and were slightly winning the fight, until attack helicopters arrived, likely to give cover for Edgar's escape. The Boss drew out his phone and started calling Shaundi.

"Shaundi, get those birds outta the air, we gotta go! Now!"

"We're coming in hot!"

The Boss ended the call, and watched the sky above him become filled with two fleets of helicopters; rockets were fired all around the ship and the sounds of machine guns from above could faintly be heard, but the Boss was still waiting for Shaundi to stop the fighting and get the crew off the ship.

As the ship began to slide yet again against the waves, the Boss decided that they couldn't wait any longer, and had to steal one of the lifeboats. He ran to one side of the ship, with his crew following him keenly, and looked across the relenting waves crash against the walls of the ship underneath him.

There was only one lifeboat left, but it was already occupied and one man was already using it, and the Boss was inclined to shoot him in his skull before sailing alongside him.

"If you want to get back to Stilwater, then you'll have to get on this boat!" Razor shouted, his appearance caught the Boss's attention, and he quickly identified who he was.

"Are you kidding me? You tried to fucking torch us all at the Gangstas In Space Premier!"

"I was just doing what I was paid to do, but I'm done with the Consortium; Edgar's done paying me and he wants me out of the picture…He's already hired a replacement…Your friend with the mask, he's took _my_ fucking place."

The Boss made no response, and looked down depressed towards the salty waters that were becoming as strong and ferocious as he was.

"I can help you take him down! I _know shit_ that'll surprise you! Get me to your HQ, and I'll tell you all I know!"

"I swear to God, if you try anything, I'll fucking drown you myself!"

The Saints joined Razor on his small Dinghy, and the former assassin started sailing for the small city of Stilwater in the distance. The Boss called Shaundi, and told her that the job was done and to leave the ship to sink before she got herself killed, which she reluctantly agreed to, eventually.

The Boss ended the call, and looked towards Razor. His eyes were at one moment a light shade of brown, but at the other moment, were a murky shade of brown, and his face was completely flushed with stress to stay alive. The Boss thought for a moment that he reminded him of Viola when she first joined the Saints, but the situation was stranger, as Viola had personal reasons for joining. Razor just wanted to join to_ stay alive_.

**…**

"Alright everybody, listen up 'cause we got some important shit to discuss!"

The Boss stood in front of the guardian angel statue in the Purgatory, with every single member of the Third Street Saints standing in front of him, except Johnny of course. Razor sat on a small chair near the corner of the room, watching the Boss's actions and wondering if this was what usually happened in the gang. Farid, Viola and Pierce stood glancing over to him both furiously and nervously, with their arms crossed to show off their seriousness.

Shaundi and Kinzie sat on one of the couches, with Josh Birk and Zimos drinking cans of alcohol not too far away from the girls, and the two new Saints stood silently alongside each other staring towards the Boss. They had introduced themselves as Stan Timber and Lian Chang respectively, but their connections to the Consortium were still yet to be revealed to the Saints. Jenny tried to sit on one of the steps of the stairs that the Boss stood at the top of, hoping for more attention and respect, but she received as much as the rest of the gang, which was _obviously_ wrong for the Boss to do.

"The Saints have been getting hit hard too many times by the Consortium, and this time we're taking the fight to them. Now I ain't gonna lie; we're up against some serious muthafuckas here and got our own problems here at him, so I've brought in some new blood to give those assholes a _wakeup call_!"

He looked to his three latest recruits, and pointed towards them individually.

"This is Stan - Lian - And Razor."

"Stan, you've got the Prosperous Marines! I want to know what business deals Tommy Quiver's got running, who he's connected to and what Edgar wants from him!"

"You got it." Stan replied, he unfolded his arms and bumped his chest with his fist, then aimed it towards the Boss in a gangster style salute. Shaundi looked to him and decided that she was going to be working with him the most now, as she was the one who had the _most_ reason to go after Quiver in the room.

"Lian, you've got the Golden Dragons! I need t-"

"It _has_ to be them?" The young woman questioned, the Boss glared at her angrily, with Zimos and Kinzie also glaring at her in question for her words.

"Fuck you say!?"

"Nevermind…I'll handle them…" Lian sighed, her actions reminded Shaundi of her first reaction to being assigned against the Sons of Samedi. She quickly remembered why she was so hesitant to go against them out of all three enemy gangs at the time, and began to wonder if Lian had _similar_ reasons for the Dragons.

"And Razor-"

"-Yeah yeah, Edgar's main crew, the one_ I_ was supposed to lead…I'll take them down, and your buddy with the mask too!" Razor interrupted, he had begun drinking bottles of alcohol from the bar because he was uninterested in the gang's procedures of going against a new criminal organisation.

The Boss looked to him with an tense and pissed expression on his face, and he was very tempted to just put a bullet in his skull once and for all for what he has done, but he was just too _valuable_, and if Edgar wanted him once for his gang, then the Boss wanted him for his gang.

The leader of the Saints then turned his attention to Farid, who began to grow nervous as to why he was looking at him oddly.

"Alright! Once we're done here, talk to one of these guys, they'll have something for you to do!"

Farid grasped what the Boss was saying and why he was looking towards him, and gave a small nod to his words. The Boss smirked at his willingness to help the gang, and it reminded him of himself when he first joined the Third Street Saints, then under the leadership of Julius Little.

"It's our time now…Let's get this shit started!"

He raised his fist into the air, and all of the Saints joined him and cheered chants for the gang, except for Razor, who had retreated to one of the stools by the bar for more drinks. The group grew louder and louder, and the Boss began to feel more pleased with what was happening, more confident that he would finally get revenge on Edgar for everything he has done.

He remembered for a split second of what Edgar said to him before – The words that engraved themselves into his skull and dripped _poison_ into his brain – But he shook it off, because he knew he was stronger than that shit.

He returned to chanting with the Saints, and before they could join Razor at the bar, Josh began shooting his pistol at the ceiling again, caught up in the joy of the gang once more, and all eyes turned on him yet again.

"Um…I'll-I'll pay for the ceiling…My butler's still got the check-book with him…"

* * *

**I'll admit, I liked writing the scenes with the entire crew together, gave some good comedy and ploturns at the same time! Action scenes still need a lot of revising though, so don't be surprised if you see the majority of this chapter scrapped and replaced!**

**Chapter 13 will be up soon, leave a review underneath this and I'll happily review your stories in return!**


	13. Chapter 13: We Can't Be Prepared For War

**Back again! Might not update as much as usual as I'm doing coursework and revision for my A Levels now sadly, but I think I'll make one short chapter next week for a certain character. More twists in the plotline here, everything is coming together nicely; I'm introducing dozens of subplots that'll all come together into one overarching plot that'll affect all of the characters greatly.**

**Leave a review at the bottom please! I'll gladly review your stories in return!**

***I'm introducing some world issues in this chapter, so apologies if it annoys you, but again like with chapter 8, it'll be crucial for the overall plot***

* * *

The Boss sat with Kinzie in the main office in the Purgatory, and the two were watching the plasma TV in the wall. There was another presidential debate between Senator Hughes and current President Obama, and there was no clear victor by the end, as there were equal cheers for both sides.

The Boss had originally believed that the Senator had no chance whatsoever, and that the current President would be returning for his third consecutive term, but the Republican was receiving much more public support by each debate.

He could not determine who would become the next President of the United States; he had hoped Monica Hughes would have received a crushing blow in the elections like she deserved, but he knew that this was politics, it was hardly ever fair.

"I can't believe people are _actually_ taking her seriously." The Boss noted, he was playing with a small pocket knife whilst sitting against the office table.

"She'll fall, eventually, politicians always do. Some are just better at covering it up than others, but from how things are turning, it looks as though she'll fall from a high distance." Kinzie replied, she was beginning to have a small baby bump building on her stomach, but she tried to hide it with her purple hoodie.

"Hughes will get over it Kinz, her popularity's gotta have something to do with her connections…Do you think they could be rigging the voting, or just using the media to improve her image?"

"If she has strong connections, and if they're trying to make her look good in the media, then it'll be through broadcasts onto televisions…For all we know, the miniature cameras and microphones built into the set-top boxes are her way to spy on us, or she's using a strong form of subliminal advertising…"

"You've lost me again Kinzie…"

"You're not familiar with what they're trying to do are you? Never heard of _'Predictive Programming'_?"

"Um…"

Before the Boss could answer, he was fortunately interrupted by Pierce and Stan walking into the room, as the Boss had called the two to meet him personally. Pierce had changed his attire drastically; he now sported a white hoodie with a half buttoned long sleeved purple shirt with dark blue baggy jeans, and had a strange type of a white beanie hat.

Stan walked into the room with a tucked purple shirt that had multiple gun holsters on, and black cargo pants that supported his look.

Pierce still looked remarkably tired, which confused the Boss as Pierce was one of the most immature and composed people he had ever met, and so it was strange for the rapper to let himself become troubled.

"What'cha call us for Boss? Setting up on the Marines already?" Pierce asked, his voice was lower than usual, and his dark brown eyes were now surrounded by red veins in his eyes.

"Yeah, but first things first, we've got another thing to discuss…" The Boss replied, his face turned very serious as he grabbed the TV controller and turned off the news, then clenched his fists as he placed the remote onto the table.

"When I was letting go of Quiver to Edgar, he mentioned that there was a mole in the gang…He already knew that I was aware of Angel working with him, so that means-"

"-There is a traitor in our midst…" Stan interrupted, he had just joined the gang and already he found that the organisation was built on deceit and lies. He stroked his small beard and shook his head in disappointment, whilst the Boss looked on.

"Yeah, and we need to figure out who it is…I know it definitely isn't me – You gave us the intel, Kinzie and wouldn't have wanted Oleg to get kidnapped – Stan, you weren't apart of the gang back then and Pierce…Well, you went in with us and nearly got yourself killed looking out for us, so it can't be you…So who _is_ it?"

"Only a few of the reinforcements were told of the intel that I received, and most of them died in the ambush in Hampton Heights…." Kinzie noted, her face had dropped and she was slowly going over the planning of the mission to ambush the Consortium, but couldn't determine who exactly would have helped the enemy. "There are a _dozen_ of potential candidates that I could list off…"

"Birk and Jenny are out of the picture since they live off the image and success of the gang." The Boss added, the four in the room were slowly reviewing each lieutenant's role in the gang, and whether it suggested treachery or not.

"Shaundi definitely wouldn't have done any of that shit since she was kidnapped by Winslow, so she's outta the picture too." Pierce responded, the Boss nodded at his words in return.

"I doubt it's Zimos, since he has no reason to go against us all of a sudden; all he cares about is his prostitution business, and he's still grateful to you two for saving him from Safeword." Kinzie believed, the Boss began pacing around the room, thinking of the remaining candidates and what their roles were.

"…Could be Viola…I mean, with what happened with her sister back with the Syndicate, she could have just joined us to get a quick one over Killbane. After we cleared all of that shit up with STAG, she might have decided to just pack it all in with the Saints…" Pierce decided, Kinzie looked to him with an unconvinced, but open, look, whilst the Boss looked on enraged.

"Then there's Farid; we still don't know much about him aside from the fact he recently broke out of jail. Come to think of it, we don't even know why he was even sent to prison, and he is always so eager to help us…" Kinzie added, the Boss looked at her furiously as well, whilst Pierce calmly nodded his head.

There was a short silence after the four Saints realised there were no other candidates to review, and after Stan scanned the Boss's face, looking for whether he was done giving orders, he made his outlook on the Marines known.

"If we're done cleaning house, then I'd like to start planning to make a move on the Marines." Stan interrupted, the Boss gave him a small smirk as he hated trying to deal with betrayal, whilst Pierce and Kinzie made themselves comfortable on the couch in front of the office desk.

"What do you want to start off with?" The Boss asked, Stan drew out a small envelope from his suit pockets and dropped out a pile of photos onto the table.

"First thing first, we have to take as much of Quiver's money as possible; the Prosperous Marines are nothing more than a bunch of rent-a-cops hired by Winslow to give The Skipper protection. All Winslow wants from Quiver is his money and connections to the criminal underworld…We start taking out his corporations, ruin his public image, and sooner or later he'll try to run; he always does."

"Sounds like you've _already_ tried to take him out before." Pierce determined, Stan looked at him from across the room and gave a silent nod. He and the Boss expected him to confirm it with words, but he didn't, and instead returned to the matter at hand.

"What we should do first is take out their main suppliers, that'll leave them lost for a while. Quiver Enterprises is supplied by many corporations across the world, but their main suppliers are a company called _'Bravado'_ and their chairman is meeting Quiver today at one of his company's branches in Stalicoast."

"So not only can we steal or destroy all their merchandise…But we can also take out the bosses of their suppliers and set Quiver's company back for a long time." The Boss concluded, his new lieutenant was already impressing him.

"Exactly. I've talked to Samson and he's set up some explosives for us to use. We stuff them inside a van and drive it straight into their warehouse, which should take out most of the shit there. Then we move in and pick off whoever's left. Who knows; we might be able to kill The Skipper in all the chaos as well…"

"And what we can't destroy, we can take and rebuild. I can create a backdoor into their company records and have them transfer most of their weapons or profits to us, but it'll take time." Kinzie added, the grin on the Boss's face couldn't grow larger, even despite Pierce trying to beat him to it.

"A'ight, I'll get some of the crew to come with, we'll move the explosives on a powerboat and get straight to Stalicoast!" Pierce settled, the Boss walked past him with a smile and patted him on the back as Stan followed him.

"By the way, I managed to finish up the prototypes of the small communication devices you wanted." Kinzie said, the Boss turned to her as she brought out the small devices from her pockets and handed two each to the Boss and Stan, then to Pierce and kept some for herself. "I've only managed to make some for the four of us, but I'll be working on more."

"Don't work too hard!" Pierce shouted, Kinzie stood by the doorway of the office as she watched the three Saints walk into the elevator, and within minutes, set off for Stalicoast.

…

**90 Minutes Later**

"So…Do you want to bail now Stan?"

"Not yet…"

The Boss and Stan were driving the truck carrying explosives in the back towards the warehouse, they drove past the red traffic lights and young teenagers on motorbikes, all of whom were swearing abuse at the Saints for speeding past them.

"We've just past their car-park, you _sure_ you don't want to bail now?"

"Nope…"

The Boss sat in the passenger seat of the truck, struggling to breath in shock as Stan charged through the car-park and destroyed most of the toll booth, then started driving towards the main entrance of the warehouse. The Boss thought that Stan was going to drive into the forklifts next to the doors, but he underestimated Stan; this was his first mission alongside the new recruit.

"STAN! GET OUT! NOW!"

The Boss kicked open the passenger door, and rolled across the gravel of the car-park, scratching his face along the way. When he looked back to the warehouse, it had been engulfed in a fiery blaze, and the scaffolding alongside the building fell onto the ground, and all the Boss could smell was the cracked, burning tar of the road along with the Marines roasting on a very open fire.

The Boss ran towards the debris, looking into the warehouse and saw all of the shelves that were once stacked with explosives and rifles, were now fallen on top of each other, slowly melting away, like burning domino pieces. The Boss quickly brought out an SMG and picked off the remaining workers that were still alive, and looked around the wreckage of the truck, and looked through the front window towards the driver's seat.

He braced himself for a moment, hoping not to see a human body caught up in a barbecue, but he knew he had to confront the unwanted possibility, and stared into the truck, but could not find his new lieutenant.

"Looking for somebody?" A familiar voice snickered from behind the Boss, he turned around swiftly and aimed his SMG at the man's head.

"You are one crazy bastard Stan, you know that right?" The Boss replied, he drew the SMG away from Stan's face and patted him on the shoulder. Stan had no burn marks on his body, his clothes were still perfectly intact and he didn't even have any dust or burnt plaster on him. The Boss was beyond speechless.

"There's more facilities in this warehouse! We'll head straight to the manufacturing room – Steal a few half-made weapons and let your FBI agent go crazy with them!"

"What about Quiver?"

"I can't find him, my guess is he never turned up in the first place, sneaky little bastard…But I gunned down the supplier's lead."

Stan lead the Boss through the burning building, and pointed towards a body half buried underneath a pile of boxes and pipes, and after close examination, the Boss decided that there was no chance of survival. He looked around and could still hear doorframes snapping and heat escaping through broken windows, but was still in charge enough to remember the plan.

"Alright Pierce, we're done here! Sweep the whole area and see if you can find anymore Marines or even Quiver!"

"Got it Bo-"

"Already taken of." Kinzie interrupted, she unexpectedly spoke into the communication devices and had already made a back-up plan incase Quiver had indeed not shown up. The Boss stood grinning as he heard the noise of a helicopter flying towards the area, and was not startled to see it in purple decals, shooting towards the burning warehouse.

"It's bad enough that we're in a burning building with plenty of flammable liquid and explosives – And she thinks the best solution is to send an attack chopper?" Stan shouted, he ran alongside the Boss as they stormed out through what remained of the backdoor of the warehouse.

"I didn't correct you when you said she was crazy, remember?" The Boss teased, Stan shook his head as he ran his fingers through his short black hair, letting the sweat dribble down the palms of the hands.

The two Saints stood outside the destroyed warehouse, watching what remained of the Prosperous Marines stationed in the warehouse run out of the debris, the skin on their faces peeling away and their eyes melting into the back of their eye-sockets.

"Poor bastards…" The Boss mumbled, Stan glared at him with disapproval of his words.

"They work for The Skipper…They don't _deserve_ sympathy…" Stan responded, he crossed his arms and allowed a sadistic grin to make its way across his face, as the smoke from burning flesh blew into the two Saints' faces.

"Boss?" Kinzie asked over the comms, the Boss was fortunately given an excuse to end the slightly disturbed conversation he was having with his new lieutenant.

"Right here Kinz!"

"I'm seeing groups of Marines heading to your location, all coming from different directions to close you off…You need to get out of there. Now."

"We can take 'em, right?"

"Maybe, but it'll take time…And we don't have time right now. We need to get back to Headquarters, I'll land the helicopter nearby, just hold them back long enough."

"Kinzie what do you mean?" The Boss asked, but his tech-expert had ended the conversation, and the Boss was forced to follow the instructions.

"Change of plan?" Stan questioned, he was arming himself with an M16A1 rifle as the Boss ended the call, and was looking out towards the housing estates nearby where the Marines were likely coming from.

"We're gonna have to wait for an evac…Hope you're ready for a fight, Stan."

"_Always_."

The Boss brought out his AK-47 and as soon as he finished reloading, the first wave of Marines revealed themselves, driving past the back of the burning warehouse in an attempt to surprise the Boss and Stan. Their plan did not work. Within minutes, the Boss shot the fingers of one goon from a far distance, andt could see the blood spill out of the broken bones and tissue onto the goon, prompting the Boss to chuckle as the goon began to shriek in pain.

Stan however, was being more precise with his murders; he crouched onto the ground and started picking off each criminal one by one with a quick bullet inbetween the eyes. By the time the Boss had killed three men, Stan had managed to kill fourteen. However, their fight was not over as more waves of Marines were surrounding the Saints, and it was only until the Boss insisted that Stan stopped fighting and joined him in escaping from their adversaries.

"Alright Kinzie! Where are you!"

"Landing the chopper by the base of the hill now Boss!"

"Make it quick – Their right on us!"

The two Saints ran out of the parking lot by the warehouse, with the marines dressed in their army uniforms, firing military assault rifles and flinging grenades towards the Saints. The Boss struggled to keep his legs running over the fallen twigs from the nearby trees, and felt the urge to vomit as his stomach was covered in stiches.

Stan however, was as fast as a _gazelle_, and had made it to the top of the hill before the Boss, and when his leader arrived, he found Stan making himself comfortable. Kinzie was landing the chopper, but she didn't have time for a perfect landing, so the Boss and Stan had to cling on to the passenger's side whilst the chopper is in the air.

"I prefer sitting in these things, not hanging on to them with my life!" The Boss shouted, it was now a long way down to the ground, and now he couldn't hold back the queasiness inside of him as he vomited down towards the Marines.

"You're afraid of heights? Seriously? Everything you've encountered in life and you're scared of heights?" Stan questioned, he was astonished at the Boss's true fears.

"Screw you! Doesn't matter anyway, the marines will gun us down and we'll break our bones when we fall to the fucking ground!"

"Actually, it will be their bones that will be broken…" Stan murmured, he let go of one hand on the side of the helicopter which shocked the Boss, until he brought out a small switch from his pants pocket and pressed a small red button.

The Prosperous Marines, who were once winning the fight against the Saints with their explosives and higher grade weapons, were now blown apart in a fiery blaze, their lives extinguished by the push of a button.

"How the hell did you do that?" The Boss asked, Stan managed to climb into the back of the helicopter and grabbed onto the Boss's hand to help him in.

"All of my bullets are laced with explosives that are the size of nanites…When you work for a weapons manufacturer like Quiver, you can't help but buy their products at a…_Discount_."

"You really are one crazy bastard Stan…Kinz! Get us out of here!"

"Thought you'd never ask…."

**….**

**65 Minutes Later**

The Boss, Kinzie and Stan, had returned safely to Purgatory, and after reaching the bottom floor in the elevator, the Boss couldn't hold back his glee in making the Prosperous Marines suffer any longer.

"Yeah! That's how you fuck up a street gang! Time to sit back and watch the fireworks!"

"We shouldn't waste time in preparing for the next round, but for now, we are winning this fight." Stan replied, he finally gave an honest smile of satisfaction to the Boss, and even Kinzie too was pleased, especially since they fully went along with her plan, for once.

As the trio walked into the lounge, and were about to have a few drinks, they found the majority of the main Saints waiting for them. Pierce sat on a barstool next to a small TV on the bar, with Jenny, Farid and Zimos, standing around him, watching the news bulletin on the small screen quietly.

"The fuck you all doing? Not going out tonight?" The Boss asked blindly, his girlfriend quickly turned her head as soon as she heard his voice, and anxiously tugged at his arm for him to watch the news.

"There's something you need to see…" Jenny cautiously warned him, the Boss's face dropped when he saw the concern in his crew's face. Even Zimos, the old pimp who was seemingly always high on life, looked disheartened at the bulletin on the television.

The Boss turned his attention finally to the TV, with Kinzie and Stan standing alongside him, watching as well. It was a news bulletin, by Jane Valderama, on an armoured boat in the outskirts of Steelport, delivering breaking news to the entire nation.

"This is the scene today in the city of Steelport, as warriors of a rising criminal organisation known as, _'The Golden Dragons'_ proclaim their ownership of Steelport. In a matter of hours, these lawbreakers have robbed the citizens of Steelport of their money, possessions…And their lives-"

"You can't be fucking serious…" The Boss shouted, he realised that he should have known it was too easy to make a move so early on the Marines, and had been away from Steelport for so long.

"The Steelport Police Department bravely attempted to counterattack The Golden Dragons with all of their might and power, but in the end, the new criminal organisation managed to murder every police officer in Steelport, quickly and brutally.

Not even the Third Street Saints in the city could stand up to the assault, as the young gangsters were massacred for their actions, and all of the properties and investments they were protecting in the city were either destroyed or taken by the Dragons."

"'Da Mutafuckas…" Zimos bemoaned, he looked very angry, but his auto-tuner made him sound as bizarre and silly as usual, which prompted Jenny to shush him so that the Boss could continue listening to the breaking news.

"The President has ordered for SWAT teams to be sent into the closed off city to wipe out the criminals, but judging from the lack of responses I am receiving from the police officers on this boat, it looks as though the city has yet to be saved. Senator Monica Hughes, has branded the President _'Heartless and Ineffective'_ in his responses to the threat, and is seeking her own course of action in this terrorist attack."

"She'll receive good publicity for this…Not good, not good _at all_…" Farid noted, the Boss turned his head to look at him and began to grow angrier at how his enemies were using the situation to their advantage.

"Will this act of panic and mayhem be put to a stop by our national lawmen, or will Steelport become a city-state under the Golden Dragons? I'm Jane Valderama, Channel Six news. Back to you, Jack."

The news bulletin ended and Pierce turned off the TV, whilst Jenny and Farid watched the Boss pace around a coffee table, then shook slightly as he grabbed it with both of his hands and aggressively threw it across the room.

"We can't let them get away with this! We need to make a move on Steelport ASAP!"

"And let Quiver's companies recover from our attack? We can't stop the fight with the Marines, if we focus our attention on the Dragons, then we'll just be playing right into The Skipper's hands!" Stan snapped, the Boss grew frustrated at his words, and had no idea how to move forward.

"We can't fight them in two places at once Stan!"

"Maybe we can…Or even _three_." Pierce wondered, the Boss and Stan both turned to him with confused looks, but after a short pause, Stan realised the point Pierce made and nodded at his suggestion.

The Boss stared at both men, puzzled at what they were planning, until his anguish was finally ended by Kinzie, who had figured out the idea.

**…**

"It's not my fault Eddie! I had no idea the Saints would kill the suppliers!"

Edgar Winslow and his unreliable lieutenant were arguing in The Skipper's main office in the headquarters, and it became clear who was in the wrong between the two to Angel, who was eavesdropping on the two, hiding between the browndoors.

"After everything you have done, and after everything we lost on the ship – You didn't think the Saints would try to attack you first – Maybe strike you at your main weapons manufacturer? The main source of money for the Consortium?"

"I-I was planning to increase the security when I met them…"

"You're lucky I discovered your plan to meet the supplier – Or you'd be dead and all of our funding would have died _with_ you!"

Edgar was staring out of the windows with his back turned to Quiver, who was already caked in sweat in fear of what his leader was going to do next. He stood straightening his tie, checking his reflection in the window, and then returned to his failure of a lieutenant.

"Set up some deals with new suppliers – Initiate new sales for your weapons – Do anything to increase the profits to make up for this failure! Chang will distract the Butcherer long enough in Steelport, and the _inflation_ will take over all of Stilwater…Once the Consortium is funded with enough money by your hand, we will be able to start the mass production…"

"Of the…Um, the…"

"Yes…_That_." Edgar interrupted him, he knew that Quiver never paid full attention to his plans, and now that he was failing with his enterprise, Quiver was slowly becoming a lost cause to Edgar.

"Did they take any of the weapons, or vehicles?"

"No…They just torched the place. Drove a truck full of explosives into the main doors, and finished the whole damn building off with a helicopter."

"…Good. If they discovered what we were actually building in that warehouse, they would have discovered the _rest_ of the plans. We're done Quiver. Go and increase the security on the rest of your properties, before we lose everything when the war has just begun."

Quiver gave a small nod and hurried out of the room, his stumpy legs carrying him at a surprisingly fast pace. He almost unknowingly slammed the door in Angel's face, but the wrestler managed to hide quickly enough for the corrupt businessman to not see him. Angel looked back into the room as soon as Quiver had disappeared, and watched his leader's movements.

Edgar had brought a small necklace from his pants pocket and dangled it in the air with both of his hands. It was filled with dozens of dog-tags; all engraved with names of people, seemingly to Angel, old friends of Edgar. Edgar began reading out the names to himself in a low tone, and after he was done, held the cold steel necklace along his neck, and pushed it underneath the red shirt, so that no one would ask questions of it.

Angel however, could ask questions of it, as he was the only man in Quiver's headquarters to have seen the dog-tags, and entered the room to ask his leader.

"Angel!" Edgar announced, Angel walked into the room with a greeting smile on his face as he wanted to shake his hand. "What do you need?"

"Nothing, I-I…Before all of this…What did you do for a living?"

Edgar gave a short sigh and brought out the necklace again, and held each dog-tag in the palms of his hands, and Angel stood in front of him, resisting the urge to examine the jewellery himself so that Edgar couldn't lie to him.

"Six years ago, I enlisted to join the US Navy Seals, and managed to make a name for myself in the military. In a few months, I became a Corporal, and my team and I received special orders from the Admiral to head to _Afghanistan_. My father, he didn't want me to go, but he didn't have a choice…If he loved me enough, he would have begged me to stay, instead of leaning onto his perfect daughter to get him through the pain…_Bitch_."

Angel sat on one of the chairs next to a table, and rested his right elbow onto the table and placed his masked face onto his right hand, still focusing his attention on Edgar.

"But the war…None of us could have expected it to be so…_Deceptive_. I've seen things that no training can prepare you for, that I know of now. I remember their faces around me, and I know that they do did not expect any of it. You read about it all in newspapers or watch clips on the news, but no one asks questions about what really goes on over there…"

"It sounds traumatic."

"It was, and that wasn't even the worst part. I returned home, and found everything I remembered, everything I wanted to return to, was gone. The life I had, would never be mine _again_. My father was killed a few weeks after I left, my sister left town after she got scared of the Saints, and the government? They didn't care of what I had to say. I begged them to send me back – I wanted to go back to that nightmare, and change it all….But the CIA, had _other_ ideas."

"They were likely planning another attack, if you had wai-"

"NO!" Edgar slammed his hands on the table in front of Angel, and became fuelled with enough rage to strike him, but he managed to hold back his anger long enough to not tempt the former Saint into leaving the Consortium.

"I waited for three months…I had to hide in the city I grew up in, I watched drugs being dealt on street corners to mothers, young children playing with knives and baseball bats they found on the streets…And everywhere I went, there was graffiti on every fucking building."

Angel stood up from the chair and faced his leader directly, but Edgar seemed to have forgotten Angel was listening to him, and was ranting to himself.

"I was a Goddamn hero, my friends died for those kids, for those mothers, and they just forgot about me. They called the group of criminals _'Heroes'_ for getting rid of some street gangs…I FOUGHT A FUCKING ARMY FOR _MY_ COUNTRY!"

"Okay! Okay…So you're fighting the Saints, for honour…Honour and friendship. That, I can understand."

"Can you Angel? Have you suffered as much as I have? Have you seen your whole life taken by men you _shouldn't_ have trusted, and been left to pick up the pieces?"

There was a short pause in the room, and a group of goons that were part of the Marines entered the room, and told Edgar that they needed his help. Before the leader left the room, Angel grabbed his arm, and their eyes became locked. Edgar's eyes fell to the floor as he almost dropped his necklace, but Angel grabbed it just in time before it hit the floor, and handed it back to the leader.

"Yes…Yes I _have_."

* * *

**It's all coming together nicely! Leave a review below this and I'll update ASAP!**


	14. Chapter 14: The World Is Our Oyster

**I've been debating whether or not to write up this chapter, but I felt it was necessary. This one is noticeably short compared to the others, because it focuses on just one character. I felt that I should give some more backstory to my OCs and improve my writing style more, so here it is, chapter 14. **

***Again, some deep issues in this chapter, I apologise if you're affected by the storyline in this chapter, but it's necessary for the story. Send me a message if there's anything you'd want me to change here.***

* * *

The Boss was speeding down the streets of the Saints Row district, past the Police Station and the On Thin Ice Jewellery shop, and brought out his phone to call Shaundi. It was against the law to drive and use a mobile phone at the same time, but none of the officers that were patrolling the streets could say anything to the Boss as he drove past them; he was the leader of the Saints. He was a man _not_ to be reckoned with.

"Shaundi, I need you to get everyone to the Purgatory, I'm setting some shit up to deal with the Consortium."

"I'm on it. Birk, Lian, Pierce and Kinzie are with me at the hideout, Jenny is doing some interview in town, Zimos is doing some business at Safeword in Steelport, and I'm not sure where everyone else is…"

"You mean Stan, Farid and Viola?"

"Yeah, it's weird since Farid waits for your orders here most of the time and Viola's always taking care of some business, but I haven't heard from either of them for a while now. It's _strange_ Boss."

"Just keep me posted when everyone's there, I'm heading over now."

The Boss hung up on Shaundi after almost running down a group of young brownie girls at a zebra crossing, and held back the urge to shout verbal abuse. The girls crossed the road, and started talking to an old guy wearing a black trench-coat, who handed each of the girls a small plastic bag, and they in return gave him money.

The Boss sat in his leather seat, unimpressed at how low the city was becoming by the day.

He was heading into the Red Light District, and drove past the Kanto restaurant that was still doing as well as ever, and began to remember the day he murdered Ronin lieutenant Jyunichi for the death of Aisha and for stabbing the Boss's best friend. He remembered that day as if it was yesterday; the smell of fresh sushi, the cold steel of Jyunichi's sword slicing into the Boss's thick warm skin and the sound of Jyunichi's body hitting the ground.

Those were the days; when it was easy to kill an asshole that pissed off your best friend, instead of trying to fight _war-criminals_ on a daily basis.

The Boss passed one of the many brothels in the Red Light District and before he could make the next turn for the Headquarters, his phone was ringing again. He assumed it was either Shaundi or Pierce trying to call him, but surprisingly, it was Viola.

"Sup?"

"Where are you, Boss?"

"I'm driving towards the HQ now, what's wrong Vi?"

"There's something you need to see…Head to the Sunset Park over in Sunnyvale, you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Viola, I'm a little busy planning the next move against Winslow, I don't have time for any-"

"This is serious Boss! You don't want to be _late_."

"I'm trusting you on this Viola…"

"You _should_."

**…**

**20 Minutes Later**

"How long has he been like this?" The Boss asked, parking his Attrazione by the front gates of the Sunnyvale Park.

"Not sure, I found him like this half an hour ago, I tried to take the heroin away from him, but he's acting really violent." Viola replied, she stood by the front gates with her arms crossed, like usual.

"Why?"

"The drugs…When I got here, I saw him taking it all in, just forcing it down his nose. He started mumbling something a couple of minutes afterwards, about Tommy Quiver and some other people. Do you want me to bring him to the HQ?"

"No, I'll have a word with him, see what's wrong. Thanks Viola, I'll message you and the others when we're done here."

"_Anytime_."

Viola walked away from the gates towards her parked Temptress, and drove off whilst the Boss walked through the gates of the park. The hot day started to draw close towards the evening, and the weak wind started to blow at the tree branches and at the Boss's slicked back hair. The dying sunlight made its way through the metal bars of the gates, and the man sitting on the bench tried to hide his face as soon as the light shone onto him.

"Hey, Stan."

Stan lay back onto the bench, his fists held closely to his chest, with his heroin tightly protected by the depressed man. He continued to mumble, and the Boss could not understand any of what Stan was saying, and grew impatient with his pain.

"Hey! Wake up, you fucking junkie!" The Boss demanded, he kicked the bench where Stan had his head resting on, and the drug-addict immediately jumped with fright.

"I'm awake. I was just wishing you'd leave..." Stan replied, he sat on the bench shaking his fists in the air to bring the circulation back, and started coughing repeatedly.

"Whew, that's pretty good gear…God I _am_ high."

"Good for you."

"Okay…Don't get _sanctimonious_ on me."

The Boss walked closer towards Stan, and placed his right foot back onto the bench, and rested both of his arms on the leg, and stared directly towards Stan. The new Saint was unbelievably twitchy, scratching itches on his face and checking his right fist to make sure that he still had his heroin, even though he kept on forgetting that he had checked.

"Fine. Why do you do this to yourself?" The Boss queried, he spoke in an almost sarcastic tone, albeit with small signs of concern. Stan however, was still in a terrible state.

"Because it feels nice…Because it feels better to be high when you're not…"

"Does it stop you thinking?"

"Stops you caring…Which is even _better_!"

Stan moaned in pain and started coughing again, and this time, blood splattered out of his mouth onto the ground, and the Boss cringed. He watched the small puddle of blood swirl around a few small cracks in the ground, and the deep crimson colour disappeared into the ground.

"What do you care about?" The Boss asked, he made himself comfortable next to Stan on the bench, and looked at the water fountain behind him, and threw a few quarters into the still water.

"I care about getting back at people who claimed I only looked after myself…People who used that to say _shit_ about me…"

"That sounds like a lot of things to be concerned about." The Boss noted, Stan nodded his head and pointed at the Boss, agreeing completely with what he was saying.

"Sure, I mean, I'm not an angel…I'm not a man of principle. I-I messed up, but I tried…I made a mistake! But I admitted it…"

"We all make mistakes."

"Exactly!" Stan cried, he jumped up on his feet and started looking towards the trees and shrubs close by, and then turned back to the Boss. "And this guy, still laughs at me, for what he did to me, _and my family_!"

"This guy…It's Tommy Quiver, isn't it?" The Boss questioned, and Stan silently nodded. The Boss rubbed his eyes and noticed that the sunlight was now concealed behind the murky clouds, and he quickly felt trickles of rain dripping onto his face. "What did he do to you?"

"I-I was…An engineer, worked in one of his company's branches in Stalicoast, for seventeen years, since I was seventeen!" Stan started pacing around the bench, holding his heroin and debating whether to take more of it or not. "Not once did I complain, ask questions or take what wasn't mine…But one day, I was having problems. M-My son, started feeling unwell, said he felt sick, so we took him to the doctors."

"Never knew you had a kid man." The Boss smiled at, but little did he realise, that it was _not_ something to smile at.

"We sat him down in the hospital, one of the nurses looked him over, did an x-ray and all that. We sat for hours, waiting to hear the same old _'You should take some of this, and some of that'_…Then the clinical lead comes in, and before you know it, the room is spinning and I'm on the floor, crying like a little girl."

Stan fell back onto the bench, and started snorting the heroin, whilst the Boss moved away from him. The father started rocking his head back, and tried to force all of the heroin down his nostrils, until the Boss took it away from him.

"We thought, there'd be no way out, just saying the word made you think that the world was going to end. Then they say that it can be treated, and all of a sudden, we're back on our feet, tears gone, and we started thinking the _world is our oyster_."

"There's always hope Stan; wherever there is pain, there is an end to it."

"Course, I wasn't a millionaire, I earned enough to live off, but I needed more if we wanted our son to live. So I went to the manager of the branch, told him the story, asked for a bonus, but he refused. Said it wasn't his call to make, so I went to the man who could make the call. I sat across the desk, telling him my life-story, my throat dry as shit. I spent a whole hour, talking. Then he got up, looked out the window, then at me, and said _'No'_."

"Now I see…"

"That was just it for me. I got told there was a way out, but the guy who could have helped me was just too fucking selfish to do it…I just _snapped_ when he did that. Lunged at him across the desk, smashed a lamp into his face, broke his nose and tried to choke him to death. Then the guards dragged me away, and that was it."

"You could have gotten a loan, or some help, somewhere else."

"I did. I borrowed some money from people you don't normally meet every weekend, and I took the money and my son to the hospital. Went to a special clinic. He got put under the X-ray, we all sat behind the glass, waiting. Doctors came back, told me to sit down, and were trying to read off a piece of paper. Then they said that they misread the scans. It was too _late_."

"I'm sorry."

"Two weeks later, the guys I borrowed money from came back, asking what happened to the money. Then the wife found out, she was disgusted where I went to get it, and left town with the kid. My whole family, gone, just like that. I spent all of the money on drugs, anything to get my mind _off things_, and when they came back again, I took _care_ of them. Then I was on my own, almost a year, then I get more people knocking on my door and all of a sudden, I've been kidnapped."

The Boss brought all of the pieces together, and pictured Stan's life as a whole after he finished. He was lost for words; of course he was, what was he supposed to say in this situation, that it would get better? Stan had people telling him that for years, and it never helped him.

"I went into a situation, full of optimism; full of naivety…I didn't even join the Saints, properly, just tagged along to take out Quiver. _Once and for all_."

"And you will Stan. But right now, we have to head back to the HQ. I'm going to tell everyone what's going to happen in the next couple of weeks, end all this bullshit."

The Boss grabbed Stan by his hands and helped him up on his feet, then started leading him towards his Attrazione with his arm around his new friend's neck. The hot day had ended, and now the rain was showing brute force to the people of the Earth, but fortunately the Boss had a sunroof to use for the Attrazione.

"Back then, I was good at my job, and I was even better when I had Quiver under my hands. I was the best, and I still couldn't get him to help me…"

"Times have changed, Timber. _He's going down_."

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**Leave a review at the bottom of this, and I'll update soon with chapter 15!**


	15. Chapter 15: Next Time, Take First Class!

**Hey everyone! Here's the latest chapter; I've been reading a couple more stories here, like Saints Row: Salvation and Devastation, and some of Kaycay's and SaintRow4Ever's stories, and have been revising my writing style to bring you this chapter. I'm focusing more on the dialogue now, and trying to keep everything at a fast pace, so I hope you enjoy it.**

**I've also updated my profile with character profiles for Stan, Lian and Razor in this story. If you're following this story all the way, be sure to check them out!**

**I noticed that one user in particular, noted that my story was "Too complicated" to follow, so I've made it much simpler to read (Even though that user doesn't deserve the satisfaction, that's right ILoveHeartWritingM, I'm talking about you here :p)**

* * *

The Boss looked around the main room of the Purgatory, a bottle of scotch in his left hand, and a Kobra pistol in his right hand, and after he ensured that all of the main lieutenants and the majority of the recruits were present, he began to reveal his plans for the gang.

The recruits were all testing out the communication devices that Kinzie had finished creating for them, and were also testing out new types of electronic grenades that the young hacker had produced as well. The Boss felt tempted to say that she needed to get laid more, but remembered that most pregnant women do not often go out to get laid.

"Now that you're all settled with the new tech Kinzie's made for us, it's time to make the next move on the Consortium. I've decided to divide the Saints into three smaller factions, and send each one to three cities so that we can all take the Consortium out at the same time". The Boss revealed, everyone in the room were_ extremely_ silent, and there were mixed reactions.

Pierce and Shaundi did not like the idea, as they thought that they were stronger when they had every member of the Saints behind them, whilst Razor and Farid thought it was an excellent move, as it would certainly surprise Edgar.

"You're splitting up the crew?" Shaundi asked, and the Boss nodded in return. "Fuck…It's a good idea, but…"

"So what stops us from becoming similar to the Syndicate then?" Viola demanded, she preferred feeling like a member of a gang over being an _employee_ of an international criminal organisation.

"We're all still friends Viola, but we'll have to be friends from far distances." The Boss concluded.

"Cool, so who's going where?" Pierce questioned, the Boss smiled at his support.

_That's how my right hand man should act, just like Johnny. _The Boss thought to himself, he took a swig from his bottle of scotch and looked around the room, deciding who will be in which faction.

"Alright, since the Dragons are the main priority to take down in Steelport, I figured that the main bulk of the Saints should head over to Steelport and clear those fuckers out. Pierce, you'll be leading them, call 'em whatever you want, but make sure you ice their leader."

"Done." Pierce replied, he pulled his beanie hat off his head and threw it onto the floor, and took out his old white cap that he wore back when the Saints were fighting the Syndicate.

"Zimos, you're rolling with Pierce, and you too Lian."

"Hell yeah!" Zimos shouted in his auto-tuned voice, whilst Lian gave a sharp bow. Jenny gave her a baffled look, but the young Chinese woman did not react.

"Razor, I want you in Steelport as well, since you're itching to hurt the Consortium as a whole the most. And you should go with them Shaundi, si-"

"-Are you serious? I want to take out Quiver _myself_, so I'll be wasting time in Steelport!"

_She has got to lose that temper one day…_The Boss thought, Shaundi had moved through the crowd towards the Boss near the stripper pole in the centre of the room.

"…Fine. Stan, since you'll be making the plans to take out Quiver, I want you to look after Shaundi and the others."

"I don't need a fucking babysitter Boss!" Shaundi roared, Stan looked to her, almost with fear as well as admiration, then back to the Boss.

"Look after her _and_ the others…" The Boss said begrudgingly, trying not to shake his fists at Shaundi whilst saying it.

_She really is becoming more and more like Gat. I guess this must be what Julius felt when Johnny wanted to take the VKs out._

"In that case, Viola, you can take Shaundi's place in Steelport, lend Pierce a hand with your strategizing. You're smart, so be smarter than whoever running the Dragons."

"Consider it done." Viola faithfully replied, Jenny snapped one of her fingernails as she responded to the Boss, and Josh almost jumped at the sound of the noise.

"Ok, that's the Steelport faction sorted, now onto the Stalicoast faction. Stan and Shaundi, I've already mentioned you two…Farid, I _need_ you to fight alongside me too. You impressed me back with the shit at Freckle Bitches, hopefully you'll impress me again with the shit with Quiver."

"I will not let you down!" Farid eagerly answered. Pierce smirked at his enthusiasm, whilst Razor scoffed at him, and began to mutter something under his breath.

_If Farid really could be working for Edgar, then I want him close. Just like the old saying 'Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer'. Wait, what kind of idiot came up with that shitty saying? _The Boss wondered, Farid began to look at him oddly as the leader stood staring into thin air for no reason.

"Ok. Kinzie, I want you to stay here in Stilwater. The comms will work, but won't work between two people in Steelport and Stalicoast, so you can link us all up in Stilwater and send over the intel that we'll be needing."

"Just because I'm three months pregnant, doesn't mean I can't fight Boss..." Kinzie informed him, the Boss however, was still reluctant.

"No, but it means that you've got to look after yourself and a kid now, and I don't think Oleg would have wanted you to go off shooting at the Consortium with a kid inside of you." The Boss replied, almost harshly. "And you help us all out more when you're doing your computer stuff, like _looking over us_ and covering all of our backs!"

Kinzie was still silent, and had _retreated_ to the office upstairs in the Purgatory, so she could start setting up a new Inner Sanctum. Viola looked to the Boss with dissapointment, as he could have handled the situation very differently.

"Ok, Birk and Jenny, I want you two to stay here in Stilwater as well. You can help look after shit here and also keep the press off our asses. Do some interviews or say that we're gonna make a sequel to the Gangstas In Space film or some shit." The Boss decided, Jenny nodded and moved closer to the Boss for a kiss, until the Boss flinched when Birk began to speak out.

"No one shall separate me from my one _true love_...Only I can protect Shaundi from our enemies, so I'll be coming with you to Stalicoast. Our love will grow stronger as we stare death in the face, and you will realise when I bring you Quiver's head, that _Nyte Blade_ is a true Saint." Birk replied, he began taking deep breaths to prepare his short speech, and everyone in the room rolled their eyes as soon as they started speaking. Only Jenny paid full attention, and began to think that it was honourable of Josh to casually confess his love every minute of his life.

_Why did I ever let him into the Saints officially? Well, I guess he's too stupid to betray me to Edgar, and he is pretty loyal to Shaundi. I guess it wouldn't hurt that much if he tags along._

"Alright, fine. You can come with us Birk, but I don't want you trying to act like a superhero or some shit. Just remember that you're a man and not a real vampire..."

"You gotta be fucking kidding me..." Shaundi muttered, Josh stood alongside her and knelt on the floor, and was about to serenade to the vixen, until she stomped on his hands with her left heel, and walked to the other side of the room as he began to moan in pain.

_That's what you get for signing yourself up to the Stalicoast crew, Shaundi_

"Okay, now that we've got that out of the way, I'd like to introduce two new associates of the gang, who'll be helping out here with Kinzie and Jenny. Well, they're not really new, I just mean it _officially_."

All of the Saint lieutenants looked over to each other, slightly confused with the cryptic revelation the Boss had given them. The Boss brought out his phone, and gave a small smirk after reading a text, and started texting back.

Jenny tried to look over his shoulder as she hung her left arm over the Boss's shoulder, and pretended to stroke his hair as she looked at the text, until the Boss rose to his feet and put the phone back into his pocket. He then looked up towards the stairway, and could hear the the sound of the elevator returning to the Purgatory.

"Shaundi and Pierce, you've already met this guy, but those of you who've never met him before; I used to help this cat back in the day when Julius Little ran this gang. Those who don't know him, this is Tobias, he'll be helping out with things around here. I've noticed that there are some new drug trafficking rings going on in Stilwater, so I called Tobias for a little hand."

The old drug dealing personal friend walked through the elevator and down the stairs, with all of the Saint Lieutenants watching him, and the Boss walked through the crowd to shake hands with his friend.

"It's good to see you again man, how's the wife and kids?"

"Laura has been begging me to buy her a new car, one that can move the shit loads of cocaine quicker that we've been trying to move through these streets, and the kids are the same old little _bastards_ that they've always been." Tobias replied, he spoke very slowly and appeared very high, but the Boss didn't care, as he was used to it.

"Awesome, if you help Kinzie out here, I'll be able to give you full time protection from our boys for your deals, and sooner or later, you and Laura will be the biggest drug market in town."

"I don't think that will be the case, though I'm touched by your words. There's new product in town that everyone's going crazy over, but only a few dealers have their hands on it and they won't share it with friends like me. I think we need to wipe them out before they wipe the city out."

"_'Wipe the city out'_? What's wrong with what they're doing?" Viola asked, the whole crowd of Saints were now watching the Boss and Tobias stand by the giant Angel statue, and now even Kinzie had emerged out of the office to listen.

"The new product is something called _'Crimstone'_, and it really fucks with your mind if you take too much of it. But everyone's going crazy as shit over it, and I'm losing all of my regular clients to the new craze. It's fucking bullshit."

"If there's new market in town, then maybe the other associate will be able to help you guys out. He can't be here at the moment, since he's too busy doing his job and trying to help you with your job problems, Tobias. But the Chief of Police will be sending special police units to patrol the Saints hideout, and keep your asses covered."

"The Chief of Police? Isn't that…" Farid began to wonder, the Boss smirked at him trying to figure out who was the new associate, until he ended the speculation.

"Yup, it's Troy Bradshaw. He used to roll with the Saints, until a lot of shit came up back in the day with the old leader. But now that he's in charge of five-0, and he's still loyal to us, he can help us out now. For once, this is one cop that we don't gotta worry about."

The crowd of Saints stood staring at each other, sceptical of the idea of the Chief of Police, let alone a dishonest regular cop, would be so willing to help a group of criminals out. Still, the Boss was the boss, and if he believed it was the right call, then it was the right call.

"Alright people, we're done here. Pierce, get your people and head outside, there should be a couple of VTOLs waiting for you. Take them to Steelport, and start taking out the Dragons, but make sure that people like Monica Hughes and Burt Reynolds know what you're doing."

"So they'll know that we're doing the country a _favour_…Shit, sounds like a plan. Let's bounce people!" Pierce concluded, he walked up the stairs as his faction of the Saints followed him, and gave a quick fist bump to his boss before he left.

"Alright, the rest of you who's with me, we're taking the next flight to Stalicoast. Stan, Shaundi, I'm counting on you two to make some plans when we're there, I don't want to get jumped by some sailors when we get there."

Shaundi and Stan nodded in return to the Boss, and the Boss walked out of the Purgatory with his faction of the Saints. Now the Purgatory was very quiet, and only Jenny, Tobias and Kinzie were still left in the hideout.

"So, what do we do now?" Jenny asked, she automatically looked to Kinzie as she was the smart one, but she had already retreated back to the office to start helping the Boss and Pierce.

"I guess, we keep business here going as usual. You're an actress aren't you? Make some movie deals or some shit…" Tobias muttered, he walked down the stairs past Jenny and sat on the couch, and put his feet up by the stripper pole.

"What are you going to do?" Jenny snapped, she did not like taking orders by anyone other than the Boss, but Tobias didn't care, as he was already snorting some cocaine for himself.

"I am going to go to fucking _Mars_…Be back in two." Tobias muttered, he stretched out all over the couch as he sniffed the last of the cocaine, and Jenny groaned at his decisions, and strolled out of the Purgatory, bored and tired with how little she is allowed to do for the gang.

**…**

"The decision has been made Senator Hughes, the decision to reverse the effects of the Presidential Act of 2015 has hereby been approved. The current President, will be forced to step down, but there will be a new candidate in the Democratic Party for competition."

"Fantastic, Secretary Petreaus." Monica Hughes replied, the two politicians were standing outside the White House, and the Senator was walking towards her limo, parked just outside the front doors. "If it wasn't for the economic depression that year, none of this would have happened. Personally, I think it is harsh to let one man have three consecutive terms, regardless of how popular he is."

"I can't comment on that ma'am, but history is indeed in the making today. The Democratic Party will have picked their new candidate by the end of the day, and the voting shall begin at the end of the week."

"Thank you Secretary, and please, send my regards to the current President. Oh, and be sure to ask him if he can remove the chair in the Oval Office? I'd like to have my _own_ line of furniture when I'm in the White House."

The Secretary calmly nodded at her words, knowing it was a weak sign of sarcasm, and shook her hand. The Senator was then escorted into her limo, and then watched the Secretary fade into the distance.

"He is definitely going to be replaced as soon as _I'm in command_. He has no backbone whatsoever…" Senator Hughes mumbled to herself, little did she realise, someone was listening.

"I couldn't agree more, politicians these days need a strong backbone to endure public backlash…"

"Who are you!? How did you get into this limo!?"

"Allow me to introduce myself Senator; my name is Edgar Winslow, and I believe you and I can help each other greatly for both of our careers."

"This is the first time I've met you, and already you're making the wrong impression. Have the driver pull over, I want you out of this car!" Hughes declared, Edgar however, decided to lean back in the leather seats and brought out a bottle of champagne.

"On the contrary Ms Hughes, this may be the first time we've met officially, but I have helped you greatly in the past. If it wasn't for me, the Act of 2015 would not have been reversed. I am, handing you the election."

"Wh-What? How did y-"

"How did I bribe the Secretary with enough money and resources to blackmail several of the politicians in the White House? Quite easily. It wasn't hard, as, well you said it yourself; _'He has no backbone'_." Edgar replied, his upper lip sneered slightly as he began to fight with the cork inside the bottle of champagne. He managed to pull it out with a pocket knife, however the champagne fizzed and showered all over the Senator.

"In that case, I must thank you for your assistance. But regardless, the decision would have been made anyway, and I will be winning the election, with or without your help."

Edgar snickered at her words, and after giving her a blank, defeated look, he smashed open one of the car windows with his elbow, and threw the bottle of champagne out. The Senator, shrieked in fear, and began trying to attack Edgar by pulling him to the floor.

"You don't understand…You _will_ be needing my help, in giving you the election. And in return, I will be needing your help in a few matters…That is my problem you see, I am too nice, always giving too many second chances; just like my father. It seems you have a similar problem, just with your late husband, not your father."

"We are nothing alike…You are deranged, a sociopath. And I will have you locked up somewhere."

"No, we are similar. We are shaped, by those that we have lost. All to the same people. The same man. He took your husband…He took my father. And people call him a hero, a celebrity. If you help me, not only will I help you with the election, but I will avenge your husband. Do what you will with me afterwards, but only after I kill him."

The Senator was very silent after Edgar had given her his proposition, and began searching through her mind to figure out who the man in front of her was. Then she realised the truth, the _whole_ truth, and concluded that if she did not say the right answer, she was not going to be leaving the limo.

"Very well, Edgar. I will help you. What do you need?"

"I'm glad that you've changed you mind Senator. I need to know what became of the STAG Initiative after the situation in Steelport…I need to know where _Commander Temple_ is, and where the tanks, VTOLs, weaponry…Their entire arsenal, and the members. I will be needing their assistance too."

**…**

"Are you going to throw a Molotov, or are you just going to stand there like a bitch?"

"No fucking way Chang, even in a burning building, you still act like a girl…"

Johnny Gat stood in the corridors of a burning brothel, as hundreds of members of the Golden Dragons ran through the corridors, smoke filling the air and the corpses of the prostitute piling up wherever they dropped. The Golden Dragons were ruthless in burning the brothel to the ground, and brutally murdering anyone they caught in their eyesight; but Johnny was still prepared to mock the Chinese boss as much as he could.

"So what does Winslow have on you Chang? Aside from his _dick_ up yo ass at least…"

"Real funny Gat, big talk from the _'hardcore gangster'_ that's scared to walk in a burning brothel. You say Winslow has his dick up my ass, even though you're the one giving it to that kid that Winslow always around…"

"Give me a reason Chang, come on, I've met bitches harder than you in my time."

"Don't tempt me Gat, it would be very easy to explain to Mr Winslow how the _'Great Johnny Gat'_ perished in a burning brothel…Seems fitting for a bitch that can't handle a molotov."

Johnny's temper was flaring hotter than the heat in the room, and before Chang could stop him, Gat snatched the molotov from the leader's hands, lit it and threw it onto the back of one of the goons, and admired his work as the goon screamed in agonising pain. Chang tried to land an uppercut on Johnny, however the Saint quickly grabbed him by the elbow and pressed him against the wall, and began to land a few punches on his back.

"Not so tough now huh? You've already got me stuck in this shithole, you really think I give a shit whether you're face starts to melt like _candlewax_? Fuck off…"

The fire was raging stronger in the room, and the ceiling was starting to give way, however Gat was still the man in control and knew how long he could keep pushing his luck. Fortunately, it was long enough for Johnny to steal the lighter in Chang's pants, and start burning his left eye out. The leader began to screech in pain as the blood trickled down his cheekbones, but he managed to headbutt Johnny in the face and save himself.

"I've….Felt…Worse."

"Oh shit, me and my _big mouth_…"

Johnny wrapped his arms through Chang's armpits and held him as a human shield, and began strolling down the stairs of the burning brothel very casually, even with dozens of Chinese thugs shooting at the prostitutes on the ground floor. As soon as they turned their attention to him, the wounded women of the night ran past the flaming furniture and out of the main doors, but Johnny couldn't join him as he had no idea how to move past the goons with his human shield.

"You fool…These men, they are all very loyal to me. They'd sacrifice their lives for me…"

"I'm counting on that. See ya Hanny, next time we meet, bring some food from Freckle Bitches or something; we can make a day of it!"

Johnny threw Chang over the banister of the stairway, towards one of the couches by the tables that was on fire, and all of the goons dived towards the fiery inferno, adamant to save their leader. Gat ran past the crazed crowd and out of the doors, disappointed that he wasn't going to be able to appreciate his good work.

"Now that the crybaby's found his nightlight, I need to find Micah…Gotta be somewhere in this city. Where the fuck am I anyway? This place looks like fucking _Bangkok_…"

**…**

**60 Minutes Later**

"Are we there yet?" Zimos asked, he sat in the cockpit of the F-69 VTOL, and was anxious to put his feet back on the ground of the Earth; he really did not like flying in planes, especially ones piloted by someone as immature as Pierce.

"Almost Z, I'm just having problems landing this thing." Pierce replied, Razor looked to him confused.

"'Landing'? We're just above the fucking water! How do you expect to land on fucking water?"

"Keep your shirt on Razor, we've gotta speak to the mayor. Burt fucking Reynolds; God this is the first time I've ever met the guy. I should have put on a tie or some shit…"

"God, so many_ fanboys_…" Viola muttered, she rolled her eyes with a smirk towards Lian, hoping to make her open up, however the new lieutenant was still as quiet as ever, and she continued to sit with her fists clenched in the cockpit, silent as ever.

Pierce began to land the VTOL close to a fleet of powerboats on the borders of Steelport, and four members of a SWAT team had their AR-55 rifles locked sharply on the windows of the VTOL, until Mayor Reynolds ordered them to draw their rifles away. The back of the VTOL opened, and the cockpit revealed itself as Viola stood up by the back-entrance, and began to chat with the Mayor again.

"It's been a while Viola, didn't think I'd see you again under circumstances like this."

"I never imagined something like this would _ever_ happen…" Viola sighed, Burt pulled his cowboy hat forward, and Zimos stood up on his feet to get a better view of the outside world. "How bad is it?"

"Worse than any of us could ever imagine. They've set up tonnes of turrets across the city that'll fire rockets on any aircraft that flies over the city, so you better watch out for that, they've got goons looking over the docks and beaches, and they're burning the entire city to the ground. There's still some citizens in there, and some police units too, so I'd appreciate it if you could get as many of them out as you can."

"You have our word Mayor Reynolds; we'll do what we _can_."

"Oh, I already knew that dear. But good luck; you may need it with these guys. From what I saw before I fled the city; they're serious war-criminals." Mayor Reynolds warned, he gave a concerned look towards Viola, whom nodded at his words.

"Once we take out all of the gang's men, we'll find the leader and have him shut down all of the turrets, and give you the signal to have your SWAT teams move in. So long Mayor Reynolds."

Viola closed the doors of the back of the VTOL, and the VTOL began to fly towards the city of Steelport, as the Mayor raised his hand into the air to wave them off, and the SWAT teams on all of the powerboats alongside the Mayor followed him. It wasn't because the Mayor wanted them to; _they_ wanted to. These were the people that were risking their lives to take back the streets of Steelport; the police originally thought the Saints wanted to do the opposite, but they had changed so much in such little time.

"Good to know that we got five-0 on our side incase we can't pay for a _parking ticket_ when we get there…" Pierce joked, Razor gave a small chuckle at his words whilst Viola simply smiled, and Lian continued to stay silent as ever. Now Zimos was observing her too, and began checking her out, and tried to figure out whether he had a shot of scoring with her after clearing out the Golden Dragons.

"Alright, 'VTOL 1 heading to the south of the Downtown district now. All Condors, prepare to take evasive manoeuvres; stay clear of the missiles at all times!"

"Pierce, what are you doing?" Viola asked, Pierce was speaking very oddly towards the fleet of Saints in VTOLs behind him.

"I'm the head of this crew ain't I? I gotta act like it now Viola!" Pierce laughed, but the former Morningstar member was not impressed.

"I can't believe the Boss didn't put me in charge. I thought, maybe, that we ha-"

Before Viola could finish, a missile just missed the front of the windshield of the VTOL, and Pierce started piloting the VTOL down towards the water as he approached the city. The sky became cloaked with ash and missiles, and Pierce struggled to fly through the murky skies. All the Saint lieutenants could hear were the sounds of explosions in the distance, missiles being fired from the ground, and the screams of Saint reinforcements over the comms. If Pierce really was the leader of the crew, he knew he had to act. _Quickly_.

"Kinzie, can you fry the entire city with an EMP or something? We gotta take out those turrets!"

"I'll see what I can do, but if it's really bad out there, I suggest taking a parachute and finding your way to the ground."

"You gotta be fucking kidding me!" Zimos shouted, he was clinging on to the seatbelts of the cockpit. "It's bad alone being in one of these deathtraps, let alone jumping out of one so we can _splat_ onto the ground!"

"You may be close to the retirement age, but I'm sure you'll be able to handle yourself." Lian noted, everyone turned their attention to her and Razor couldn't help but laugh hysterically at her comment. The crew began putting their parachutes on, preparing for a backup plan.

"Ok, I've sent an EMP towards the New Colvin district, head east and you should find less missiles coming towards you."

"Got it, thanks Kinz." Pierce thanked, he took her instructions sincerely, and began flying the VTOL as quickly as he could towards the east, but he had no idea how far he was going, as all he could see was smoke and fire everywhere.

More missiles flew past the front of the VTOL, and before Pierce could give any further instructions to his crew, the VTOL shook with fury, and the emergency lights flickered on and off. The backdoors of the VTOL were slowly starting to fall off the pivots, and the crew began to unbuckle the seatbelts.

"You can't be fucking serious…" Zimos muttered, he was starting to panic, but Lian patted him on the shoulder from across the cockpit, and helped him with his parachute.

"Bail out! Quickly!" Pierce shouted, the backdoors of the VTOL swayed away, and air began to decompress the VTOL.

Zimos held on to his hat as Pierce did to his cap, and the rest of the crew began running out of the VTOL into the skies of Steelport, praying to God, Allah and Buddha, that they didn't meet a fiery end just at the beginning of the fight. Razor forced his way to the front of the cockpit first, and jumped out of the cockpit with haste, and Viola followed in pursuit.

Pierce held back, and waited for each member to save themselves, before he could save himself. Zimos struggled to run as his legs began to feel like jelly, which began to annoy Lian enough to hurl herself at him and push him out. Before Pierce could stand and laugh at what he was watching, the VTOL began crashing towards the city of Steelport, and Pierce fell back towards the front of the VTOL, and all of the seats knocked towards him.

"Next time, I'll ask Shaundi if she wants to take over my shift…Damn I _miss_ that girl…" Pierce mumbled as he tried to through the seats out of his way.

The aircraft was falling to the Earth at a great pace, and before Pierce could even think of another plan to save himself, or even say his prayers, a missile started heading towards the wreckage of the back of the VTOL. Pierce started to struggle to breathe as he was taking in too much carbon monoxide, and he began to lose the feeling in his arms as he tried to push the seats out of the way. The radio next to his shoulder fell onto his lap, and the wires full of electrical currents that the radio was connected to flew around Pierce's face, and the long-time Saint began to fear the _worst_.

"FUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCK!"

* * *

**Hope you enjoy the new style, I know I enjoyed writing this chapter more than the others! Be sure to leave a review below this, and I promise to review your stories if you ever upload!**


	16. Chapter 16: An Update To The Fans

**Update:**

**I have not stopped writing this story to all those who are interested, and I have been writing small parts of the next chapter here and there. I am very busy with my A Level Exams which won't end until the 24th of May. After that, I will return full-time to writing the next chapter of this story; I have too many ideas for this fanfic to just give up, so eventually, I will be able to finish this.**

**For the fans who really do like this story, I'll give a short teaser for the next chapter:**

**"After gaining the new President's trust, Edgar Winslow finally meets Commander Cyrus Temple face to face, however all is not as it seems. The Boss begins his move in Stalicoast, trying to learn more of the Prosperous Marines's interests in Stalicoast from the local drug dealers, and where Tommy Quiver will likely be. However, Shaundi cannot hold her patience any longer, and decides to go after her new enemy on her own. Pierce manages to find his feet in Steelport, and struggles to deal with the new responsibilities of being a leader, whilst his son is tortured by Han Chang, barely clinging on to life.**

**Will The Saints manage to surive another day under all of the turmoil and stress they are receiving at the hands of Edgar? Perhaps not, as Edgar looks for alliances with more of the Boss's older enemies...Stay tuned for more!"**

**Again, I can't thank all the reviewers and fans of this story enough for how patient you have all been. It'll only be a few weeks now until I return full time, so do not fret; we'll see Pierce meet his son for the first time soon enough XD**


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